Who will replace Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street? Since the British Prime Minister’s resignation last week, many Conservative Party figures have declared themselves as candidates to replace “BoJo”.

Among them: former Minister of Finance, Rishi Sunak. The son of Indian immigrants who studied at Oxford and Stanford is a favorite with former defense secretary Penny Mordaunt and current foreign secretary Liz Truss.

Unbeknownst to the public a few years ago, Rishi Sunak had managed to establish himself as a key figure in the party and is now leading. “Les Echos” pays attention to this “man in a hurry”, who could become the next Prime Minister of the UK.

1. His political career is relatively new

Rishi Sunak started his political career in 2015 when he was elected from North Yorkshire. In 2016, he did not hesitate to support, from the first hour, the Brexit camp was still in its infancy. This risky choice caught the attention of Boris Johnson, who will take him to the Treasury as soon as he enters 10 Downing Street in 2019.

2. He is the finance minister of Boris Johnson

Rishi Sunak has served as Minister of Finance for more than two years, namely the Minister in charge of Finance and Treasury. Appointed in February 2020 at the age of 39, “Rish”, as his friends call him, has established himself over the months as one of the UK’s top government officials.

His relationship with “BoJo” was not always friendly. The feud between the two men reached a climax in the summer of 2021, when Boris Johnson criticized his “lack of political sense”.

3. He was one of the prime ministers who resigned

Rishi Sunak, along with Sajid Javid (Minister of Health), the first government heavyweight to resign from the government on July 5, citing “too different approach” to Boris Johnson.

The resigning ministers specifically criticized “BoJo” for his behavior in the “Gate Party” affair, these parties being held at 10 Downing Street while the British were confined to their homes. On July 8, the day after Boris Johnson’s resignation, Rishi Sunak officially declared himself a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party and therefore for the post of Prime Minister.

4. She married a rich Indian heir

Rishi Sunak met his wife, Akshata Murthy, while studying at Stanford. They married in 2009 in his wife’s hometown, Bangalore. Akshata Murthy is the daughter of a very rich Indian businessman, Narayana Murthy. One of the founders of Infosys, he is one of the richest people in India. Total wealth, according to the magazine “Forbes”, to 3.5 billion euros.

Last April, Rishi Sunak’s popularity took a major hit after ‘The Independent’ revealed his wife’s tax status. This does benefit from being “non domiciled” (“non dom”, in English). This status would allow Akshata Murthy to be exempt from taxes on her foreign income and thus avoid paying several million pounds in taxes. The revelations have taken the UK by surprise, in the context of a purchasing power crisis linked to galloping inflation.

5. He is a banker at Goldman Sachs

Prior to starting his political career, this former Minister of Finance had a successful career in finance. Returning to American bank Goldman Sachs in the early 2000s as an intern, he eventually landed a position as a junior analyst at an investment bank.

He then joined The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), one of London’s most prominent hedge funds, before launching a hedge fund, Theleme Fund, in 2010 with former partners at TCI. Rishi Sunak is also the director of Catamaran Ventures, his father-in-law’s venture capital fund. The former minister’s fortune will total, according to the “Sunday Times”, to 860 million euros.