User:Tim O'Doherty/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rishi Sunak (/ˈrɪʃi ˈsuːnæk/; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. He previously held two Cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond and Northallerton since 2015.
Rishi Sunak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 25 October 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preceded by | Liz Truss | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | (1980-05-12) 12 May 1980 (age 44) Southampton, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Website | rishisunak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sunak was born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent who immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. He was educated at Winchester College, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and earned an MBA from Stanford University in California as a Fulbright Scholar. During his time at Oxford University Sunak undertook an internship at Conservative Central Office and joined the Conservative Party. After graduating he worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms the Children's Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners. He was elected to the House of Commons for Richmond at the 2015 general election. As a backbencher he supported the successful campaign for Brexit.
Following the 2017 general election Sunak was appointed to the junior ministerial position of parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government in Theresa May's second government. He voted three times in favour of May's Brexit withdrawal agreement but it was continually rejected by Parliament, leading to her resignation. Sunak supported Johnson's successful bid for leader in the ensuing leadership election, after which he appointed Sunak chief secretary to the Treasury. Following the 2019 general election he was promoted to chancellor after the resignation of the incumbent, Sajid Javid. During his time in the position Sunak was prominent in the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, including the Coronavirus Job Retention and Eat Out to Help Out schemes. He was also involved in responding to the rising cost of living, increased energy prices and global energy crisis. He resigned as chancellor in July 2022 during a government crisis that culminated in Johnson's resignation.
Sunak stood in the leadership election to succeed Johnson. He received the most votes in each of the parliamentary ballots but lost the members' vote to the foreign secretary, Liz Truss. After spending the duration of her premiership on the backbenches he was elected unopposed in the leadership election to succeed her, having resigned in another government crisis; at 42 he was the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool and the first to be non-white. Sunak took office amid the cost of living and energy supply crises that began during his chancellorship, as well as during industrial disputes and strikes. During his premiership he was credited with stabilising the country and his party after the unorthodox premierships of his predecessors, but did not avert further unpopularity for the Conservatives, who had at that point been in government for 14 years. The Conservative Party under Sunak was defeated in a landslide in the 2024 general election; the Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, succeeded him as prime minister.