The day after losing to Liz Truss in the race to become prime minister, Rishi Sunak entered a debate about small hospitals.
The former prime minister and one-time leader explicitly noted that he had no plans to speak, but it turned out he had more time than expected.
Even he could not have predicted that in just over six weeks he would become prime minister.
Taxes were once an important boundary in the competition between Mr. Sunak and Ms. Trusswith him warning his opponents against making unsustainable promises to cut taxes.
Although her pledges won the support of party loyalists, in government they demonstrated her political regression with small budget shortfalls causing a state of disrepair. economic turmoil.
His predictions, which stemmed from the ensuing chaos, may now serve him well on a second run to find the keys to Downing Street, with calls for a pair of safe hands.
Recent polls also show a change of opinion among party members, with most saying they favor Mr Sunak over the outgoing prime minister.
Mr Sunak’s resignation in protest at Boris Johnson’s leadership may have received praise for some quarters, but has cooled somewhat at the Tory establishment, many of whom see it as disloyalty. .
The ensuing change in attitudes among activists could mean a second stroke of luck for the 42-year-old.
First Class Oxford Degree
Born in 1980 in Southampton, he is the eldest of three children with parents of Punjabi descent.
Mr. Sunak’s father was a family doctor and his mother ran a pharmacy, where he helped her buy books.
He attended England’s oldest public school, Winchester College, where he became the first Indian-born boy and editor of the school newspaper.
Since then, he says his experience at the boarding school was “intellectual transformation” and took him “to another trajectory”.
Mr. Sunak went on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University’s Lincoln College, where he earned a first-class degree.
After completing his MBA at Stanford University, where he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, Sunak worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs as an analyst.
He is said to have received job offers from investment banks while still in his sophomore year at Oxford.
He moved to hedge funds in 2006 when he joined TCI, known as a very aggressive fund, and three years later he left to co-found a new hedge fund.
Mr. Sunak then turned his attention to politics.
Replacing a Tory grandee
In 2014, Mr Sunak was chosen as the Conservative Party candidate in the Richmond seat in Yorkshire – previously held by former Tory leader William Hague – ahead of the following year’s general election.
Nicknamed the “maharajah of the Yorkshire Dales”, he recalled being introduced as the “new William Hague” to voters after winning the ballot, to which one Yorkshire farmer replied: “Ah yes, Haguey !
“Bloke is good. I like him. However, a bit pale. This person has a nice tan.”
Shortly after joining the Commons – where, as a Hindu, he was sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita – the first major political battle of his career took place in Brexit.
Mr Sunak supported leaving the EU, insisting the UK would be “freer, fairer and more prosperous” outside the bloc.
His faction won and he spent his time in the back seat, supporting Theresa May’s negotiations and writing articles on the benefits of free activism, before being appointed to the government. in January 2018 as a junior minister of the Department of Housing.
After Mrs May’s death, he and colleagues Oliver Dowden and Robert Jenrick wrote an article in The Telegraph, advocating Boris Johnson as the only person who could “save” the Tory group.
His support has paid off, as when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Mr Sunak was promoted to become chief secretary of the Treasury, becoming Mr Javid’s right-hand man on prime minister position.
It was the departure of that boss that really set him apart when he was appointed prime minister in February 2020 – a month before COVID took over.
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Rishi Sunak said that failure to provide direct assistance during a cost-of-living crisis would be a ‘moral failure’ that risks ‘pushing millions’ into poverty.
From unknown relatives to household names
Sunak has won critical acclaim throughout the pandemic for quickly introducing multibillion-pound support schemes to keep jobs and businesses afloat during the 18-month shutdown.
The fondness of furlough and the “Eat Out to Help Out” plan made “dishy Rishi” a household name and a popular name with the general public.
At the height of this popularity, he was seen by many Tory MPs as a sure-fire favorite to succeed Mr Johnson when the time came.
But he seemed to fall out of grace quickly as he became famous.
Mr Sunak has delivered a number of policies that have gone badly with Tory MPs, notably increasing national insurance to fund more money for the NHS and social care.
He also was penalized for attending the prime minister’s birthday party during the 2020 lockdown, affecting his ability to separate himself from the partisan scandal.
But it was the revelations about his wife that really damaged his standing with the public.
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What voters in Rishi Sunak’s constituency think of his bid for Downing Street – Sky News went to find out.
Wife’s non-dominant status jeopardizes leadership’s hopes
Ms. Murty is a millionaire and the daughter of billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Indian tech giant Infosys.
In April, it is revealed that she holds non-dom status, which meant she didn’t pay UK tax on her sizable international earnings, and it led to an uproar.
She later confirmed that she would start paying taxes on her international earnings as it had “become clear that many people don’t feel [the non-dom status] with my husband is the wife of a general”.
The controversy led opposition parties to highlight his family’s wealth, with Mr Sunak facing accusations that his personal circumstances made him an unsuitable candidate to take over. and solve cost of living crisis.
Although he still holds the post of prime minister, many have passed up the opportunity to become the next Tory leader.
His resignation in July sparked a ministerial evacuation and Mr Johnson will step down.
In the next leadership race, Mr Sunak topped each of the contest’s five parliamentary rounds, joining Ms Truss as a finalist in two.
But as the campaign made strides and broadened its audience of party members, Mr. Sunak found he had gone from being liked to less.
While he warned of “difficult choices ahead” to tackle the record national debt levels incurred during the pandemic, Ms Truss promised to make tax cuts a priority.
He accused his competitors of “fairy-tale” economics and peddling “bad” schemes that even Jeremy Corbyn would oppose.
But Ms. Truss doubled down, dealing a blow to Mr. Sunak for slapping taxes to the highest level in 70 years.
She went on to win the party leadership position after winning 57% of the valid votes, compared with Mr. Sunak’s 43%.
He has kept a relatively low form since the defeat, but now finds himself as a future No 10 holder. Ms Truss’s short-term rental period.
