History was made on Tuesday the 25th of October. A celebration of firsts as King Charles III appointed his first Prime minister since the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who installed Liz Truss two days before her passing.
The ceremonial “kissing of hands” was just recently conducted at Buckingham Palace, where the conservative party-backed Rishi Sunak met with His Majesty to officially become the 57th British prime minister, the third in seven weeks following Liz Truss’s brief but disastrous stay in office.
His invitation was made possible due to a rival competing to serve at His Majesty’s pleasure. At the last minute, Penny Mordaunt reneged on her decision to continue the Tory leadership race by failing to secure the much-needed 100 nominations from Tory MPs required by the 2pm deadline.
Rishi Sunak assumes Britain’s highest political position after the controversial resignation of his predecessor, who spent a mere 44 days in office, enough to lead the country into financial turbulence.
Born on May 12, 1980, in Southampton, England to Indian parents who migrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s, Rishi was raised by a doctor father and a mother who ran a local pharmacy, which allowed him to see “first-hand the difference they made to our community.”
He worked at Goldman Sachs earlier in his career, long before entering public service, and was made a partner at the hedge fund firms The Children’s Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners. In 2015, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks), and in 2017, he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2019–2020), serving under Boris Johnson.
Also, he went on to become the Chancellor of the Exchequer (2020–2022) before his shock resignation, which eventually led to the end of Boris’ premiership and his eventual rise to power.
Furthermore, he is the wealthiest person in modern times to occupy 10 Downing Street, the first person of colour to head the country & also the first to profess a faith other than Christianity to become prime minister.
One could argue that it is rather ironic that Mr Sunak, the youngest to assume this prized position since William Pitt the Younger in 1783, who is an opulent ex-hedge fund manager, will be the one charged with taking the country out of its cost of living crisis.
While speaking at the Conservative Party headquarters, Mr Sunak also found time to commend the former Chancellor, Liz Truss, for what he calls her “dedicated public service.”
He said, “The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.”
“We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.” highlighting the need for cohesion in these unprecedented times.
Staying true to bringing the party together, he had reinstated some of Truss’s cabinet members, albeit with the inclusion of new ones, including newcomers Gillian Keegan and David TC Davies, as the Education minister and Secretary of State for Wales, respectively. According to the BBC, some of the others include:
Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet Members
From Truss’s Cabinet:
Jeremy Hunt – Chancellor
Suella Braverman – Home Secretary
James Cleverly – Foreign Secretary
Ben Wallace – Defense Secretary
Nadhim Zahawi – Minister w/o Portfolio
Thérèse Coffey – Environmental Secretary
Grant Shapps – Business Secretary
Penny Mordaunt – Leader of the Commons
Kemi Badenoch – International Trade Secretary
Michelle Donelan – Culture Secretary
Alister Jack – Secretary of State for Scotland
Lord True – Leader of the Lords
Tom Tugendhat – Minister for Security
Newcomers
Education Secretary – Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Wales – David TC Davies
Attorney General – Victoria Prentis
Chief Secretary to the Treasury – John Glen
Paymaster General – Jeremy Quin
According to this same article, “there are now two fewer women attending Cabinet than there were under Ms Truss, with the total dropping from nine to seven,” indicative of slightly more patriarchal and upper-middle-class members in the cabinet, as seen with the higher number of Oxford or Cambridge graduates from the subsequent graphs presented.
This goes to reiterate the irony earlier stated of the upper middle class being tasked with the responsibility of solving a cost of living crisis. Time will tell a tale of competence, it seems.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the current British political landscape in the comments section.
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