Rishi Sunak went from waiting tables to having a wife richer than the Queen

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will be in the spotlight when he delivers the Spring Statement to the House of Commons today (March 23).

It’s just the latest test for a man who has been firefighting ever since taking charge of the country’s purse strings.

Soon after he moved into No 11 Downing Street, the pandemic kicked in and he was forced to spend eye-wateringly huge amounts of money keeping the economy going.

Two years on, Sunak is still in emergency mode as the cost of living crisis – exacerbated by the horrific war in Ukraine – sees household bills and petrol prices rocket for families across the country.

But what do we know about the man himself, who has been MP for Richmomnd in North Yorkshire since 2015?

Sunak, 41, was born in Southampton to Punjabi Hindu parents who had emigrated from east Africa in the 1960s.

He enjoyed an education at posh Winchester College, where he rose to become head boy as well as editor of the school’s newspaper – and eventually he secured a place at Oxford, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE).

But unlike some of his better-off peers, he and his family worked hard so he could secure his place within elite educational establishments.

Sunak has talked about the “sacrifices” his parents made in order to afford the fees at Winchester, and Sunak himself got his hands dirty before heading to Oxford in 1998 – waiting on tables at Kuti’s Brasserie in Southampton to earn some extra dosh before heading to Oxford.

Restaurant owner Kuti Miah presciently told him, "You’re going to be someone, Rishi."

Unlike many other future national politicians – Boris Johnson, for example – Sunak wasn’t a big player in university political circles.

He was seen as studious and clearly heading for the word of business, and was “unknown to the student politicians", according to Marcus Walker, who was president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.

And so it went. When Sunak left Oxford (with a first-class degree) in 2001, he headed to Goldman Sachs as an analyst, staying with the bank for three years.

He then headed across the water to Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright scholar and earned an MBA.

It was while he was in the US that he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, who was from a wealthy background.

Her father, Narayana, co-founded IT giant Infosys and is one of India's richest men – and 1,135th worldwide, worth about $2.3billion, according to the Daily Mail.

For the latest breaking news stories and incredible tales from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.

The Sunaks were married in Akshata’s home city of Bangalore in 2009, and subsequently had two daughters – Krishna and Anoushka.

It’s believed their property portfolio is worth about £10m, with “at least four properties", including a £7million house in Kensington and a £1.5 million Georgian manor in Yorkshire set across 12 acres.

Akshata manages her own fashion label, Akshata Designs, and is a director at her father's investment firm, Catamaran Ventures.

Her shares in Catamaran Ventures are worth £430m, making her one of the wealthiest women in Britain — richer even than the Queen.

Source: Read Full Article