Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) served as the United Kingdom's Prime Minister from 25 October 2022 to 5 July 2024, leading the Conservative Party during a turbulent post-Brexit, post-pandemic period. He was the first British Asian and first Hindu to hold the office, and at 42 the youngest PM in over 200 years.

Sunak was educated at Winchester College, Oxford (PPE), and Stanford, where he met his wife Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy. After a career at Goldman Sachs and hedge funds TCI and Theleme Partners, he was elected MP for Richmond (Yorks) in 2015. He served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Theresa May, then as Chancellor of the Exchequer from February 2020 under Boris Johnson, where he designed the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Eat Out to Help Out programme.

His July 2022 resignation as Chancellor, alongside Health Secretary Sajid Javid, helped trigger Johnson's downfall. Sunak lost the subsequent Conservative leadership contest to Liz Truss in September 2022 but became leader uncontested in October after Truss resigned over the market reaction to her mini-budget.

As PM, Sunak set out five priorities in January 2023: halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut NHS waiting lists, and stop small-boat Channel crossings. Key actions included the Windsor Framework (February 2023) with the EU on Northern Ireland trade, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024, hosting the inaugural AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park (November 2023), and announcing the AUKUS Pillar 1 submarine pathway in San Diego with Biden and Albanese (March 2023).

He called a snap general election for 4 July 2024, in which the Conservatives suffered their worst-ever defeat, winning 121 seats against Labour's 411. Sunak resigned as Conservative leader and was succeeded by Kemi Badenoch in November 2024, though he remains MP for Richmond and Northallerton.