Rishi Sunak has been appointed the new leader of the UK Conservative Party, with the former chancellor set to replace Liz Truss as prime minister.
Mr Sunak was promoted to the top spot after Penny Mordaunt, the only other MP to throw declare candidacy, conceded just minutes before the number of nominations were due to be announced.
The King formally asked Mr Sunak to form government at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening, less than two months after his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, asked the same of Ms Truss.
With his appointment, Mr Sunak makes history on several fronts.
Mr Sunak will be the youngest person to serve as the UK prime minister in more than 200 years, along with becoming the first person of South Asian descent.
He will also be the first Hindu PM – his leadership serendipitously announced on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
Mr Sunak will likely be the richest prime minister – he and his heiress wife Akshata Murthy have more wealth than the King.
The milestones don’t stop there: Mr Sunak has the unenviable title of being the UK’s third PM in just seven weeks, with the Conservative Party in a perpetual state of turmoil.
So, what can we expect from Mr Sunak, the UK’s newest prime minister?
Quick trip to the top
Mr Sunak, 42, has had a meteoric rise to the top job.
He graduated from Oxford University in 2001, and soon after became an analyst for Goldman Sachs.
He then spent time as a hedge fund manager, before working for the Conservative Party, particularly within Policy Exchange, a leading Conservative think tank.
In 2014, he became the Tories’ candidate for Richmond, North Yorkshire, and was elected to the House of Commons in 2015.
There he remained, re-elected in 2017 and 2019, before being appointed finance chief by then-PM Boris Johnson in 2020.
Mr Sunak is also known as the husband of the heiress Akshata Murthy, who he met during his studies at Stanford University.
The couple have two young daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, and a fortune to outshine the royal family.
Although Mr Sunak has made his own money along the way, Ms Murthy is the daughter of billionaire Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, India’s sixth richest man.
They are worth an estimated £730 million ($1.3 billion) – the couple’s combined wealth dwarfing even that of King Charles III, who has an estimated £530 million ($949 million) in personal wealth.
Richest UK prime minister
This means he will likely be the richest man ever to be PM, surpassing the fortune of Edward Stanley, the longest-serving leader of the Conservative Party.
Lord Stanley’s wealth was valued at more than £7 million in the early 1800s, which translates to roughly £392.4 million ($700.7 million) in today’s terms.
Mr Sunak and Ms Murthy’s extensive wealth has been highly publicised in recent years, with the couple owning a portfolio of properties around the world valued at more than £15 million ($26.7 million).
Mr Sunak’s riches haven’t earned him favour with the public, particularly during the hardships presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, when many criticised the former chancellor for being privileged and out of touch.
Tweet from @bphillipsonMP
But Mr Sunak owes much of his political success and recognition to the days of the pandemic.
He put his financial knowledge on show throughout his two years as chancellor, and was praised for his COVID-19 financial relief, which saw him spend billions on a jobs retention program.
‘Partygate’ sullies name
But despite his lockdown popularity, his reputation soured when it was revealed Mr Sunak attended Downing Street lockdown parties, dubbed ‘Partygate’.
Although Mr Sunak paid the $89 fine and issued an apology, the damage was done.
The major misstep was one of many events that threw Boris Johnson’s leadership into disarray.
Mr Sunak resigned months later, prompting a domino effect that saw many of his colleagues do the same – leaving Mr Johnson with no other choice but to follow suit.
Mr Sunak’s ‘partygate’ attendance was a blemish on his reputation when he campaigned for the top spot in July and August, with the Conservative Party opting for Liz Truss to lead it out of trouble.
But now, the Tories say they are ‘Ready for Rishi’, in the words of his campaign slogan.
Inherited chaos
The Conservative Party is in dire need of direction.
With inflation at a 40-year high, Ms Truss had promised to deliver sweeping tax cuts in her leadership campaign, even stating her intention to cancel national insurance increases and tax hikes put in place by Mr Sunak.
The situation worsened when she unveiled her so-called ‘mini budget’, which promised to abolish the 45 per cent top rate of income tax.
The result was nothing short of a disaster.
The move pushed up borrowing costs and mortgage rates, sent investors fleeing and forced intervention by the Bank of England.
Mr Sunak had warned against this during his time on the campaign trail, saying Ms Truss would deliver only a “short-term sugar rush”.
But instead of adopting an “I told you so” attitude, Mr Sunak kept a low profile, and let the numbers do the talking.
Call for unity
Now, Mr Sunak appears keener than ever for the challenge, telling his MPs on Monday that they must “unite” against the “profound economic challenge” in front of them.
“We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together,” he said.
Although some Conservative Party members are optimistic Mr Sunak’s expertise will guide them out of financial turmoil, others are doubtful that he will be able to win forthcoming elections.
“He couldn’t beat Liz Truss last month; he’s not turned into an election winner less than two months later,” one senior Conservative lawmaker told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Other Conservatives worry Mr Sunak is too rich to understand the day-to-day economic pressures building in the UK, and question his ability to rally voting support.
But Mr Sunak denied in July that he was out of touch, claiming he understood the difficulties faced during the “difficult times” of the pandemic.
“I tend not to judge people by how much is in their bank account, I judge them by their value and their actions. And I am proud of the record of this government and my record.”
