Sunak, Rishi (1980-…), a British politician, served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. Sunak became prime minister following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss. Sunak is a member of the Conservative Party. He was the first person of color and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the office of prime minister.
Sunak was born on May 12, 1980, in Southampton, England. His parents were immigrants from East Africa with ancestry in what is now Pakistan. His father was a doctor, and his mother ran a pharmacy. After graduating from Winchester College, a boarding school, Sunak attended Oxford University. At Oxford, Sunak majored in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). He received an M.B.A. degree from Stanford University in California, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar.
After graduating from Stanford, Sunak worked for a hedge fund based in Santa Monica, California. A hedge fund is a high-risk investment company open to a limited number of investors. Later, he worked for an investment firm founded by his father-in-law. In 2015, Sunak was elected to serve as a member of Parliament (MP), representing an area of Yorkshire in the House of Commons. As an MP, Sunak served as a member of the Committee on Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, and as a member of a committee on the electoral commission.
In 2018, Sunak became the parliamentary undersecretary for the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government. In 2019, he became the chief secretary to the treasury. In 2020, he assumed the role of chancellor of the exchequer.
On Oct. 24, 2022, Sunak became the leader of the Conservative Party. The next day, he was selected to serve as prime minister.
The Conservative Party lost to the Labour Party in national elections on July 4, 2024. On July 5, Sunak resigned as prime minister, and the Labour Party’s leader, Keir Starmer, became the new prime minister. Sunak announced that he would also step down as the Conservative Party’s leader.
