Following the record-shortest tenure of Liz Truss, the recently resigned Prime Minister of Britain whose time in office lasted just 45 days, Rishi Sunak is slated to be Britain’s newest Prime Minister. Sunak will meet Britain’s new king — King Charles — tomorrow morning then will address the nation for the first time. Sunak is setting many firsts as the new Prime Minister. Here are four interesting facts about Rishi Sunak, Britain’s new history-making Prime Minister:
1. He’s the youngest British Prime Minister in recent history
Move over Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak is 42 years old, making him the youngest UK PM in over 200 years. This follows a trend of young world leaders that have been cropping up across the globe, including Italy’s newly elected PM Giorgia Meloni who is 45. Liz Truss is 47.
They’re all older than Finland’s Sanna Marin, currently 36, who became the youngest world leader when she took office in 2019. The married PM made headlines earlier this year when video surfaced of her dancing flirtatiously in a club.
Sunak is still younger than prominent British PMs of recent past. Tony Blair was young, but not younger, when he took office in 1997 at age 43, while the famed World War II PM Winston Churchill was 80 when he resigned in 1955. 80 is the same age our president Joe Biden will be in November of this year.
2. He’s Britain’s first PM from an ethnic minority
Rishi Sunak is of Indian descent, making him the first non-white Prime Minister in the country’s history. His parents are ethnically Punjabi and African raised — his father grew up in present-day Kenya, while his mother grew up in present-day Tanzania.
His Indian heritage is notable due to Britain’s colonization of Indian that lasted centuries. There are 1.4 million people of Indian descent in Britain, making them one of the largest minorities in the country. London is famous for its Indian cuisine, as people of Indian-descent make up 6.6% of London’s the population.
3. He’s also the first Hindu Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak is the first British Prime Minister of the Hindu religion. When he became a British Member of Parliament he took his oath on the Bhagwad Gita, one of the holy scriptures of Hinduism.
Most Indians are Hindu, as Hindus make up nearly 80% of the Indian population. There are roughly 1.2 billion Hindus in the world, making Hinduism the third largest religion in the world, after Christianity and Islam.
Sunak’s selection as Prime Minister serendipitously comes on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights that celebrates “the triumph of good over evil.”
4. One of the most interesting facts about about Rishi Sunak: he’s pretty damn rich
Rishi Sunak is richer than Queen Elizabeth II was when she died. He’s a former banker but most of his wealth comes through marriage — his wife Akshata Murty is an heiress to her father’s fortune, which comes from his founding of the tech company Infosys. Together Rishi and Akshata are worth 730 million British Pounds or $830 million.
When Queen Elizabeth passed earlier this year, her wealth was estimated at 370 million pounds, or $420 million, reports the Washington Post.
Rishi and his family also have a Los Angeles connection — they own a property in Santa Monica worth $6 million.