DNA Special: Proving Winston Churchill’s words wrong, how UK PM Rishi Sunak became backbone of British politics

Though India achieved independence from British rule decades ago, the rough words of Winston Churchill echoed in the history books for ages. However, those words by the former British Prime Minister now stand redundant, all because of new UK PM Rishi Sunak.

Churchill had said pre-Independence, “If India is granted independence, power will go into the hands of the wicked, crooks and looters, all Indian leaders will be levelless and powerless. They will be sweet-tongued and foolish-hearted. They will fight among themselves for power and India will disintegrate into political quarrels. A day will come when air and water will also be taxed in India.”

Proving these words wrong, Indian-origin Rishi Sunak, a seemingly ordinary person, rose through the ranks to be the backbone of the political scenario of the United Kingdom. With people fighting for power and citizens troubled with inflation, Rishi Sunak has now become the saving grace of Britain.

There has been political instability in Britain for the last five months. In 5 months, two Prime Ministers -Boris Johnson and Liz Truss - have resigned. These two leaders are basically British. But during this political instability, the person whose name came up in the most discussion is Rishi Sunak.

Sunak was the Finance Minister during former UK PM Boris Johnson’s tenure and became the backbone of the Conservative Party after gaining the trust of the majority. Rishi Sunak, a banker by profession, is the youngest leader to become the Prime Minister of Britain in 210 years.

Rishi, who was the most powerful minister after the Prime Minister in the Boris Johnson government, was identified as a leader who can pull Britain out of the current economic crisis. Despite his accomplishments, he had a very tough road when it comes to reaching 10 Downing Street as the new PM.

After Boris Johnson, when Sunak was in the race for the post of Prime Minister, many leaders including Johnson himself had campaigned for Sunak not to win. Then Liz Truss became prime minister but only a month and a half later she had to resign and finally, Sunak became prime minister.

Sunak was born in Hampshire, UK. He has studied at Winchester College, Oxford University, and Stanford University. He did his MBA from Stanford University in the United States. Sunak also studied politics, philosophy, and economics. Before joining politics, Sunak worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.

Sunak was first elected MP from Richmond (Yorkshire) constituency in 2015. After this, he has re-elected MP in the years 2017 and 2019. He was finance minister in the Boris Johnson government. However, on July 6 this year, he resigned from the Finance Minister post, triggering a rebellion against Johnson, leading to his resignation from the post.

Sunak's grandfather Ram Das Sunak and grandmother Suhag Rani Sunak were both residents of Jalandhar in Punjab. Later, he shifted to Kenya from Punjab. Rishi Sunak's father Yashveer Sunak was born in Kenya. The entire family later shifted from Kenya to the UK.

Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy is also a resident of India. Akshatha Murthy is the daughter of billionaire businessman Narayana Murthy, co-founder of the Indian software company Infosys.

Soon after his appointment as the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak took several tough calls within a few hours, including the announcement of a completely new cabinet and the sacking of multiple cabinet ministers. It is now expected that Sunak will bring Britain out of the current economic crisis in the country. 

READ | Suella Braverman, rival Penny Mordaunt back in power: UK PM Rishi Sunak’s new cabinet is full of surprises