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Rishi Sunak | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 12 May 1980 Southampton, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Political orientation | Imperialism Liberalism |
| Political party | Conservative and Unionist Party |
Rishi Sunak is a British Conservative politician and the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022 and also worked for Goldman Sachs.[1] He and his wife, the daughter of an Indian tech billionaire, have a combined net worth of over $880 million, making him the richest prime minister in British history with a higher personal wealth than King Charles III.[2] Sunak supported former prime minister Boris Johnson[1] and opposes striking workers.[2]
Early life
Sunak attended Winchester, a top exclusive public school before completing a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford university. [3] He completed an MBA at Stanford University where he met his wife-to-be Akshata Murthy, daughter of Narayana Murthy, the billionaire founder of Indian IT company Infosys.[2] After leaving Stanford he went to work first at Goldman Sachs and then at the hedge funds TCI and Theleme Partners.[3]
Political career
In 2014 he became Tory candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Richmond (North Yorkshire) with the support of the outgoing MP and former party leader, William Hague.[3] In 2015 he was elected to parliament.[1]
He backed the Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum and also Boris Johnson for the Conservative leadership. In 2019 he was made deputy to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the deputy to Johnson’s chancellor Sajid Javid. On the latter’s resignation in 2020, Sunak became chancellor; and on 22 July 2022 he resigned following the Partygate scandal, the scandal which prompted Johnson's resignation.[1][3]
Sunak ran for party leader during the 2022 Conservative leadership contest where he finished in the top two with Liz Truss among Conservative MPs. Both candidates expressed support for many reactionary views during this contest such as anti-trade union legislation and deportation of asylum seekers, however, overall Truss expressed views that were more far-right than Sunak, notably promising massive tax cuts for the wealthy. When the vote was put to party members Truss was declared the winner after receiving 57.5% of the vote to Sunak's 42.5%.[3]
Following Truss' short stint as Prime Minister, Sunak was chosen as the new party leader among Conservative MPs with no democratic vote from either the party membership or general public. Sunak became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in October 2022 following on from Liz Truss as the third Prime Minister in two months.[1]
Policy
Sunak supports the Rwanda Plan, an inhumane scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda against their will. Sunak's government paid Rwanda $180 million in exchange for them accepting the flow of refugees from the United Kingdom to Rwanda. UK courts have thus far blocked the plan but Sunak is committed to continuing to push for it.[4]
Further human rights violations includes threatening to deport anyone who protests against Isreali genocide against the Palestinian people.[5][6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nikos Mottas (2022-10-25). "Rishi Sunak, just another enemy of the working class" In Defense of Communism. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nizar K. Visram (2022-12-14). "As UK Premier Polishes His “Brand Rishi” Image, the Country Slides Into Recession" Black Agenda Report.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Harpal Brar (2022-11-09). "Rishi Sunak becomes Britain’s third prime minister in seven weeks" Proletarian. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ↑ Margaret Kimberley (2023-07-19). "Kagame and Other Stooges Do U.S. Bidding in Haiti" Black Agenda Report.
- ↑ “…if those here on visas choose to spew hate, or protest or seek to intimidate people we will remove their right to be here.”
Ashok Kumar (2024-03-02). Twitter. Retrieved 2024-03-02. - ↑ Peter Walker (2024-03-01). "Why does Rishi Sunak want to clamp down on protests?" The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-03-02.