Who Is Rishi Sunak? Ex-Chancellor Emerges As Top Contender And Bookies Favorite For UK's Next PM

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak is tipped as the favorite to take the top seat in the UK after his resignation on Tuesday.

The 42-year-old nicknamed 'Dishy Rishi' by his fans, shot up the rankings since becoming a Member of Parliament seven years ago. According to Manchester Evening News, he was long seen as the frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson as the UK's first Prime Minister of Asian descent.

Who is Sunak up against

According to bookies, the former Chancellor is favorite to take over from Johnson as Prime Minister at odds of 4/1, but Thursday morning Penny Mordaunt was favorite at 9/2 with Sunak at 13/2. Mordaunt's best odds are currently 5/1 on William Hill, according to Oddschecker, which analyzes all the bookies odds, reported Chronicle Live.

Sunak's Indian roots

His Indian parents come from the British colonial territories of Kenya and Tanzania, but he was born in Southampton. His grandparents, who were from undivided Punjab in British India, moved from Punjab to East Africa. From there, they headed to the UK with their children. According to Mirror Now, he is also the son-in-law of Narayan Murthy, who is the founder of Indian IT major, Infosys.

Why he's called 'Dishy Rishi’

Sunak developed a kind of cult following due to his image as a sexually attractive teetotaler politician in the UK. So he was given the nickname of ‘Dishy Rishi,' something that emerged after he shared a photo of himself in a hoodie at his desk. More than a few stories in fashion and lifestyle magazines like GQ and Vogue were done on him.

How Sunak made his mark early in the UK

Sunak first got noticed when he became the first Indian-origin head boy at Winchester College, which is Britain’s oldest public school. It was not known for its racial diversity. He went on to attend some of the most prestigious universities in the country. He studied at Oxford and then went to Standford with a scholarship.

Sunak and the Conservative Party

He has always been a part of the Conservative Party, and while he was a student at Oxford University, he took an internship at the campaign headquarters of the political party. But after this, he stepped away from politics and went on to do an MBA from Stanford and pursued his career in business.

In 2014, he was announced as a Conservative Party candidate. He went on to win the election in the following year. Then he became a Member of Parliament from Richmond (Yorks). It is considered to be one of the safest seats for the political party. In 2017, he was re-elected with his strong support for Brexit and also in the 2019 elections. During the 2019 elections, he was seen as a rising star. At the time, he debated for the Conservative Party on multiple platforms and was seen as a Johnson loyalist.

Sunak's appointment as Finance Minister

He was appointed as the Chief Secretary to the treasury which was an important position. The appointment made him the third most important person in handling the finance of the UK. After winning the 2019 elections, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and soon he became the Chancellor or the Finance Minister.

Sunak and controversies

He allegedly did not declare the financial interests of his wife, Akshata, who is the daughter of Murthy, so he came under fire. These interests included a combined 1.7 billion pounds ($2,04,51,08,500) shareholding in Infosys. There was also an issue with Sunak’s wife’s non-domicile status. It meant that she was not paying taxes in the UK while residing there.

As a non-domicile, she was saving £20 million ($2,40,58,100) by avoiding paying UK taxes. To be a non-domicile, she was expected to pay only £30,000 ($36,094.11). Later, she paid the taxes on her global income in the UK.

As for other controversies, his policies in tackling inflation were not very effective. They resulted in a cost-of-living crisis in the UK. He was criticized for being out of touch with the common man’s problems.