by Marco Bruna
The former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, also known as the Treasury Secretary, today formalized his candidacy as leader of the Tories
Rishi Sunak, the former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer – or Treasury Secretary, the second most important post in the UK government – resigned earlier this week in the context of the crisis that led to the ouster of Boris Johnson, and today formalized his candidacy to succeed Johnson as Tory leader and future prime minister. Let’s restore confidence, revitalize the economy and reunite the party: that’s the slogan of 42-year-old Brexiteer Sunak.
Rishi Sunak, of Hindu faith who is very attached to his cultural roots, was the first Indian to hold the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The son of a doctor and a pharmacist, as Luigi Ippolito explains in this profile, he owes his academic career and the opportunity to attend the prestigious Winchester College to the sacrifice of his parents. Then he ended up in Oxford, where he graduated with honors in philosophy, politics and economics.
In California, where he transfers to Stanford University, he meets his future wife Akshata, daughter of Indian tycoon Narayana Murthy (worth two and a half billion euros). The two married in Bangalore in 2009: a thousand guests attended the wedding celebration, which lasted two days.
To lift Britain out of the abyss of the pandemic, he took downright imaginative measures as minister: pizza at the expense of the government, the proposal that the state pay for the citizens in the restaurant. Up to ten pounds apiece to get people out of the house. Then it cut sales tax from 20 percent to 5 percent for restaurants and hotels, guaranteed cash injections for companies that hire young people or keep laid-off employees at work, and eliminated taxes on the buying and selling of houses.
Sunak has also been at the center of recent controversies. For example, the fact that he kept his green card – permission to work (and earn) in the US – until last October was heavily criticized, as Paola De Carolis explains here. In fact, the Sunak couple owns an apartment in California worth around 6 million euros. Sunak will continue to use the official residence for work, but the family has moved. A decision made some time ago, a spokesman stressed last spring, was to be lenient to the couple’s daughters, one of whom goes to boarding school.
Will he replace Boris Johnson?
Jul 8, 2022 (Modified Jul 8, 2022 | 9:04pm)
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