Opposition Leader issues congratulations to new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Published by BBNTEAM at October 24, 2022

Tags

Posted: Monday, October 24, 2022. 1:41 pm CST.

Photo Credit: BBC

By Aaron Humes: The Leader of the Opposition has issued a congratulatory message to the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak.

According to the BBC, he faced no challengers after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson withdrew himself from consideration as did former Cabinet Minister Penny Mordaunt.

Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow noted, “This is a watershed moment for racial equality and reparatory justice as Prime Minister Sunak will be the first person of colour [British Asian] to serve as Prime Minister of the UK. Hon. Sunak is also the youngest UK Prime Minister in 200 years.”

The BBC reports that he lost to Liz Truss in the race earlier this year but she resigned six weeks later. In the latest leadership contest, Sunak racked up the support of his fellow MPs early, and fast. He crossed the 100 nominations he needed long before the deadline – including from MPs that had previously backed Truss or Johnson.

He clashed with the former PM during the previous leadership race, claiming her plan to borrow money during an inflation crisis was a “fairytale” that would plunge the economy into chaos.

His parents came to the UK from east Africa and are both of Indian origin. Mr Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980, where his father was a GP and his mother ran a pharmacy. Sunak was first elected as an MP in 2015 – for Richmond in north Yorkshire – but rose quickly, and was made finance minister – or chancellor – in February 2020 under Boris Johnson. Sunak was behind the financial aid during lockdowns – including furlough payments and the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme for restaurants.

He himself is thought to be one of the richest Members of Parliament; his wife is Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy. Mr Sunak himself has worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and at two hedge funds. The Sunday Times Rich List estimates the couple’s fortune to be worth about £730m. Over the summer, it emerged Akshata Murthy paid no UK tax on big earnings abroad – which is legal. Sunak defended his wife saying, “to smear my wife to get at me is awful” – but eventually she agreed to start paying extra taxes. He was also revealed to have temporarily had a US green card, allowing him to live permanently in America while he was the UK’s chancellor.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.