Why our ‘exceptional’ new Chancellor Rishi Sunak, 39, is the bright person for the job
THE choice for our new Chancellor – the second most powerful politician in Britain – may have come as a shock to the nation.
But with most people muttering “Who?” after Boris Johnson’s Cabinet reshuffle last night, political insiders knew former hedge fund manager Rishi Sunak was always destined for the top.
An ambitious man in a hurry, 39-year-old Sunak is known for his brains, having graduated with a first from Oxford University and won a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study an MBA at Stanford University in the US.
One of the youngest people to ever fill the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak was the first head boy of Indian origin at the elite Winchester College and is thought to be the richest sitting MP, worth a reported £200million.
Dubbed the “Maharaja of the Dales”, he likes to throw lavish summer parties at his £1.5million Georgian manor house in the village of Kirby Sigston, North Yorks.
CHAMPAGNE AND CANAPES
But the man in charge of the country’s coffers was not born into quite such massive wealth.
Dad Yashvir was a GP and mum Usha ran a pharmacy in Southampton, where Sunak would occasionally work.
They put in extra hours to pay the huge fees for him to attend £40,000-a-year Winchester College, and it is an upbringing that helps define his economic philosophy.
Sunak has said: “I grew up watching my parents work hard and serve our local community with dedication.
“My dad is an NHS family GP and my mum ran her own small business, the local chemist shop.
“Small companies are the lifeblood of our economy. They employ more people than large companies and are responsible for 85 per cent of recent job creation.”
The eldest of three children, Sunak studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford.
He went on to work at investment bank Goldman Sachs before setting up hedge fund Theleme Partners 11 years ago.
In 2015 he stood for election in Richmond, North Yorks, after the constituency’s previous MP, former Tory leader William Hague, retired.
It was the safest Conservative seat in the country and his victory was assured.
Former Brexit minister David Jones MP told The Sun: “He is very bright. There was no doubt from the start that he was destined for high office.”
After being elected, Sunak moved to a 12-acre property with its own lake and boathouse in an idyllic small village near Northallerton.
It was there he has held lavish summer parties, with champagne and canapes served by uniformed staff.
Though he earned several million from his investment fund, much of his huge wealth comes through wife Akshata’s family.
She is the daughter of self-made Indian tech billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of firm Infosys.
Akshata, whose shares in the company are worth around £185million, also runs a fashion label.
The couple married in 2009 and have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.
Former PM Theresa May made Sunak a housing under-secretary in January 2018.
Her successor Boris promoted him to Chief Secretary to the Treasury last July.
William Hague described Sunak as “exceptional”, and ex-Chancellor Sajid Javid once tweeted: “The force is strong with young Sunak.”
‘I AM GRATEFUL TO BRITAIN’
Now Sunak has taken Javid’s job, which is good news for Brexit-supporting Tories, because while Javid backed Remain during the referendum, Sunak was always a Leaver.
Clwyd West MP David Jones, who was on the advisory board of pressure group Leave Means Leave, said: “Boris recognises that there is going to be tough negotiation with the EU.
“He realises he’s going to need the Treasury behind him in that.
“The Prime Minister now has a strong ally in the Treasury.”
Sunak backed Brexit as he felt excessive EU regulations were shackling the nation’s small businesses.
He said: “EU red tape is holding them back.
“From working in my mum’s tiny chemist shop to my experience building large businesses, I have seen how we should support free enterprise and innovation to ensure Britain has a stronger future.”
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Sunak, whose grandparents were born in India and emigrated to Britain in the 1960s, also felt it was wrong to give EU citizens easy access to the UK when it was often denied to nationalities outside of the Brussels bloc.
Describing himself as a British Indian whose hobbies include “keeping fit, cricket, football and movies”, he said: “I come from a family of immigrants. I am grateful to Britain for giving my family the opportunity to settle here and forge a better life.
“I am proud of our country’s generous approach to welcoming hardworking and ambitious immigrants and believe it is in our interests to continue doing so.”
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