Rishi Sunak, Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law, is Britain’s new finance minister
Rishi Sunak, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law, has been appointed Britain’s new finance minister. His appointment came after Sajid Javid’s resignation as Chancellor of Exchequer.
Rishi Sunak has been named UK finance minister after the surprise resignation of Sajid Javid as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Rishi Sunak, who was the chief secretary to the Treasury is the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy,
Hampshire-born Sunak, 39, has been MP for Richmond, Yorkshire, since 2015. He was a junior minister in the department of local government before he was elevated as the chief secretary to the Treasury last year.
An announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office naming Rishi Sunak came after Sajid Javid resigned as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer as Johnson’s reshuffle of his top team appeared to go sensationally off course, news agency Bloomberg said.
Javid was offered to remain in the job on condition that he sacks all five of his special advisers, which he refused. The prime minister had earlier fired a clutch of senior ministers including Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom - a former rival for the Conservative Party leadership - in a cull of his cabinet.
Rishi Sunak is married to Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata. From 2015 when he first entered the UK Parliament, he has had a meteoric rise as a staunch Brexiteer who backed Boris Johnson’s strategy to leave the European Union (EU).
Sunak, son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner, had co-founded a 1-billion pound global investment firm and specialised in investing in small British businesses before his entry into politics.
(With inputs from Agence France Presse, Bloomberg and Reuters)