Rishi Sunak took oath as MP from Yorkshire, on the Bhagavad Gita in the Parliament. He was the first UK parliamentarian to do so.
Both his parents are of Indian descent. Sunak’s parents, pharmacists, migrated from East Africa to the UK in the 1960s. Sunak’s father, Yashvir Sunak, was a National Health Service general practitioner and mother, Usha Sunak, ran a chemist shop.
Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton, Hampshire, to African-born Hindu parents of Indian Punjabi descent, Yashvir and Usha Sunak. He is the eldest of three siblings. His father was born and raised in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya (present-day Kenya), while his mother was born in Tanganyika (which later became part of Tanzania). His grandfathers were born in Punjab province, British India, and migrated from East Africa with their families to the U.K. in the 1960s. His paternal grandfather, Ramdas Sunak, was from Gujranwala (in present-day Pakistan) and moved to Nairobi in 1935 to work as a clerk, where he was joined by his wife Suhag Rani Sunak from Delhi in 1937. His maternal grandfather, Raghubir Sain Berry MBE, worked in Tanganyika as a tax official, and had an arranged marriage with 16-year-old Tanganyika-born Sraksha, with whom he had three children, and the family moved to the U.K. in 1966, funded by Sraksha selling her wedding jewellery. In Britain, Raghubir Berry joined the Inland Revenue, and as a collector, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1988 Birthday Honours list. Yashvir was a general practitioner, and Usha was a pharmacist, who ran a local pharmacy.
Rishi Sunak is married to Infosys chief Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata Murty. The couple has two daughters – Krishna and Anoushka.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson’s leadership, Rishi Sunak lit Diwali diyas at his residence on Downing Street.
Rishi Sunak often speaks of his heritage and how his family reminded him often about values and culture.
Like most Indian households, education was a key aspect of parenting in the Sunak household. Rishi Sunak is a Stanford University graduate and a former investment banker.
Rishi Sunak visits Bangalore with his wife and two children often to meet his in-laws.
During the campaigning for the PM’s post in the summer of 2022, Rishi Sunak faced criticism on various fronts including his lavish house, expensive suits, and shoes.
Rishi shared a statement that the Bhagavad Gita often rescues him during stressful situations and reminds him to be dutiful. Rishi Sunak has a net worth of over 700 million pounds and is very vested in properties in the UK. Apart from owning a mansion in Yorkshire, Rishi and his wife Akshata own a property in Kensington in central London.
To keep fit, Rishi Sunak likes to play cricket.
