Rishi Sunak: Who is Rishi Sunak, what's his net worth, how tall is he, where is he from? All your questions answered

Britain’s newest prime minister is Rishi Sunak, the Southampton-born ultra rich banker who grabbed the top job in Downing Street after Liz Truss’ premiership abruptly ended - but just who is Rishi Sunak?

It was only seven weeks ago that Rishi Sunak lost the Tory leadership race to Liz Truss but after her recent resignation, making her the shortest-serving PM of all time, Sunak is set to become Britain’s latest leader. While some celebrate him becoming the next Conservative leader, noting that he is the first British Asian and practising Hindu to get the job, critics have challenged the legitimacy of the promotion.

Many have called for a general election such as Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who accused Sunak of “dodging scrutiny” while calling for voters to have a say on leadership. She said: “The Tories have crowned Rishi Sunak as prime minister without him saying a single word about how he would run the country, and without anyone having the chance to vote.

“This is the same Rishi Sunak who as chancellor failed to grow the economy, failed to get a grip on inflation, and failed to help families with the Tory cost of living crisis.”

Rishi Sunak alongside his wife Akshata Murthy, who have entered The Sunday Times Rich List for the first time with their joint £730 million fortune, as the Chancellor holds out on fresh support to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis for millions of Britons. (PA)

Certainly this is an extraordinary U-turn for Conservatives and Google searches are exploding with all kinds of questions about Rishi Sunak which we will answer now.

Who is Rishi Sunak?

Rishi Sunak is a Conservative MP who has served as the Leader of the Conservative Party since October 24, 2022, and who is the current prime minister-designate. He was born in 1980 in Southampton as the eldest of three children to his parents who are of Punjabi descent - his mother ran a pharmacy and his father was a family doctor.

Sunak went on to study at Lincoln College at Oxford where he obtained a first-class degree studying philosophy, politics and economics. He later obtained an MBA at Stanford University where he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy - the daughter of N.R. Narayana Murthy, an Indian billionaire.

Rishi Sunak lighting candles outside 11 Downing Street, London, ahead of Diwali celebrations.

He then worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs as an analyst before moving on to work for hedge funds by 2006 for three years when he then turned his attention to politics.

What is Rishi Sunak’s political background?

Sunak only entered parliament in 2015 after taking the ‘safe seat’ of Richmond in North Yorkshire, he remained largely unknown outside the party until 2020 as he impressed some but never held high office. However, after Sajid Javid’s resignation in February 2020 left an opening in government, Boris Johnson handed Sunak the prestigious role of Chancellor.

This led on to the Covid-19 pandemic where Sunak’s actions were largely praised as he implemented a furlough scheme that saw the government paying the wages of those unable to work due to lockdowns although he stood accused of “dithering” for many days as to whether or not he would introduce this scheme.

File photo dated 26/06/20 of the Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, as today it has been announced that Rishi Sunak is the new Conservative party leader and will become the next Prime Minister.

However, around this time Sunak did face negative press as he was caught in scandals - one being that he was in attendance of Boris Johnson’s gathering that broke lockdown regulations and another being that his wife was claiming a non-domiciled tax status.

While Sunak was spoken of as an ‘obvious’ successor to Johnson previously this scandal of allowing his own family to sidestep tax rules harmed his ascension. Yet after losing to Liz Truss in the Prime Minister race in September he has now emerged as the Conservative leader following her resignation.

How old is Rishi Sunak and what age was Tony Blair when he became PM?

Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton on May 12, 1980, making him 42 years old. Tony Blair became the Prime Minister on May 2, 1997, at the age of 43 yet he was widely thought to be the “youngest person to become Prime Minister” despite another man, Lord Liverpool, who became PM at age 42 in 1812 – this makes Sunak the youngest Prime Minister in over a century.

Who is Rishi Sunak married to?

In 2009, Rishi Sunak tied the knot with Akshata Murthy over a two-day wedding held in Bangalore - the capital of India’s southern Karnatake state. Akshata Murthy runs a fashion label called Akshata Designs and she is a director of a venture capital firm which was founded by her father, N.R Narayana Murthy, in 2010.

Her father is the sixth richest man in India and the co-founder of Infosys, an IT company - according to the Times of India he is “one of India’s top entrepreneurs” and a well-established billionaire.

How much is Rishi Sunak worth?

In 2022, Rishi Sunak made the Sunday Times rich list which details the wealthiest people from the UK. A report by the Guardian revealed that this makes him the first ever frontline politician to feature on this annual ranking since it first aired in 1989.

The list said that Rishi Sunak and his wife’s net worth is £730 million and their source of that wealth was put as “technology and hedge fund”. It has also been reported that Sunak owns multiple properties across the world which are valued at over £15 million.

Rishi Sunak’s father-in-law N.R. Narayana Murthy is a billionaire who according to the CelebrityNetWorth website is worth $4.6 billion.

How tall is Rishi Sunak in feet?

Rishi Sunak is 170 centimetres tall (or 5 feet 6 inches). This makes him roughly 4 inches shorter than Boris Johnson and, according to the Office for National Statistics, 5cm shorter than the average man in the UK.

There has been buzz on Twitter that he has tried to “appear taller” as this would improve his public image by making him seem less short in stature.

What religion is Rishi Sunak?

The Mirror reports that Rishi Sunak is a practising Hindu. Although it is said he rarely talks publicly about his faith it is also known that he takes his Commons oath on the Bhagavad Gita - a sacred Sanskrit text.

October 24, the day that Sunak was announced as the next PM, overlapped with Diwali – one of the biggest religious festivals worldwide celebrated by Hindus among other faith groups.