Rishi Sunak: Star Wars fans become political force

 Rishi Sunak: Star Wars fans become political force

At just 42, Rishi Sunak is the youngest prime minister in modern times - taking the record from his old boss David Cameron, who was 43 at the time of appointment.

His rise to the top has been rapid. He only became MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire in 2015 and joined the Cabinet in 2019.

"I showed up and people were surprised," Mr. Sunak said of being chosen to represent Richmond, with its overwhelmingly white population. But his hard-working "Yorkshire values" resonated with people and he won them over by showing an interest in the things that mattered to them, he said. Seven years later and he has made history as the UK's first British Asian Prime Minister.

Mr Sunak joined Boris Johnson's cabinet in 2019 as chief treasury secretary working alongside Chancellor Sajid Javid, and his career has rocketed from there.

A self-confessed "huge Star Wars fan" with a large collection of lightsabers, he tweeted a photo of himself and his "Jedi master" Mr Javid at a screening of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. After a few months, became an apprentice. Master when he replaced Mr Javid as chancellor, and plunged into pandemic emergency planning and budgeting.

To a few, Mr. Sunak appeared to be Tiller's reassuringly steady hand as chancellor.

When he pledged to do "whatever it takes" to help people through the pandemic in the spring of 2020 - and unveiled £350bn worth of support - his personal poll ratings went through the roof.

But the UK continued to be hit by turbulent economic weather, and Mr Sunack himself faced the consequences of being fined by the police for breaking lockdown rules in Downing Street in June 2020.

In July, he resigned from the Cabinet, saying he felt his own approach to the economy was "fundamentally very different" to that of PM Boris Johnson. The move was critical in ousting Mr. Johnson, a move not forgotten by some of the former prime minister's allies.

After just 16 weeks, he has become a leader himself.

His appointment as PM came on a day when millions celebrated Diwali, and as a practicing Hindu he said the proudest moment of his career as chancellor was lighting the ceremonial diwas (oil lamps) outside 11 Downing Street. A traditional Hindu red bracelet, meant for good luck and protection, can be seen on his wrist as he poses on the steps of 10 Downing Street for the first time as UK leader.

Rishi Sunak: The Basics

Age: 42

Place of Birth: Southampton, Hampshire

Home: London and Yorkshire

Education: Winchester College, Oxford University, Stanford University

Family: Married to businessman Akshata Murthy with two daughters

There is no denying that Mr. Sunak's wealth is far from that of most. Together, he and his wife Akshata Murthy are estimated to be worth more than £700m - an amount that surpasses the personal wealth of King Charles III.

Mr. Sunak's critics have questioned whether the billionaire understands the scale of the cost-of-living squeeze facing struggling families.

In April, the finances of Mr Sunak and his family came under intense scrutiny, with the tax affairs of his wife - the daughter of Narayan Murthy, the Indian billionaire and co-founder of IT services giant Infosys - coming into focus. Headquartered in Bangalore, Infosys reported revenues of $11.8bn (£9bn) in 2019, $12.8bn in 2020 and $13.5bn in 2021. The company's latest annual report shows that Ms. Murthy owns 0.9% stake in Infosys.

She announced in April that she would start paying UK tax on this income to relieve political pressure on her husband.

Mr. Sunak's appointment as prime minister has made his own wealth and tax affairs a hot topic again. He is tight-lipped about his personal wealth and maintains that he has never benefited from a fund based in a tax haven.

It remains to be seen whether he and his family will split their time between Downing Street and the £4.5m five-bedroom townhouse in South Kensington, London, where they currently live.

Sunaks is believed to own three more properties: the Grade II-listed manor house in the village of Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton in his Richmond constituency, bought in 2015 for £1.5 million. The couple also owns a flat in the south. Penthouse apartment with views of the Pacific Ocean in Kensington and Santa Monica, California.

Mr Sunack won the approval of 202 Tory MPs to replace Liz Truss as Prime Minister. Newsnight's political editor Nick Watt says his colleagues consider him "very personable", but also someone who is "very clear and precise in what he thinks".

For example, in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum – in which he campaigned to leave – he was summoned to Downing Street and asked for his support for remaining in the EU but refused.

"He said, 'No, I think Brexit is the right thing' - which is quite a thing for a newly elected MP to say to Downing Street."

Mr Sunack told the Yorkshire Post that he believed leaving the EU would make the UK "freer, fairer and more prosperous".

He said changes to immigration rules were another key reason for his Leave vote: "I believe fair immigration can benefit our country. But we must control our borders."

Before entering politics, Mr. Sunak was an analyst at the investment bank Goldman Sachs and later worked for two multibillion dollar hedge funds.

His supporters hope that his eye for statistics and data will be an asset in making sound economic decisions.

Mr Sunak's parents came to the UK from East Africa and are both of Indian origin.

He was born in Southampton in 1980, where his father was a GP and his mother ran her own pharmacy.

"In terms of cultural upbringing, I'll be at the temple at the weekend - I'm a Hindu - but I'll be at [Southampton Football Club] Saints games as well as on Saturdays - you do everything, you do both."

In interviews he said he was lucky not to have had to endure racism growing up, but there was one incident that stayed with him.

"I was just out with my little brother and little sister, and I think, maybe very young, I was probably mid-teens, and we were out at a fast food restaurant and I was just taking care of them. There were people sitting there. Were. Nearby, I experienced it first hand, just said some very unpleasant things. The 'P' word.

"And it stung. I still remember it. It's etched in my memory. You can be insulted in many different ways."

However, he said he "can't imagine that happening today" in the UK

He attended Winchester College, an exclusive private school, and worked as a waiter in a Southampton curry house during the summer holidays. He has drawn criticism from Labor for donating more than £100,000 to his former school to fund scholarships for children who could not attend.

After finishing school he went to Oxford to study philosophy, politics and economics, before studying for an MBA at Stanford University in California. There he met his wife, and the couple has two daughters.

During previous leadership campaigns, he often referred to his daughters in the context of climate change. Responding to a question on climate change during a BBC TV debate, Mr Sunak said he had "consulted my two young daughters, who are the experts in my house".

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