Boris Johnson Wednesday appointed Indian-origin politician and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law Rishi Sunak as the new finance minister in his cabinet.
“The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the appointment of Rt Hon Rishi Sunak as Chancellor of the Exchequer,” Downing Street said in an official press release.
Sunak is the second person to join Johnson’s cabinet, the first being Priti Patel, the Home secretary. The 39-year-old is set to move into No. 11 Downing Street, next door to the Prime Minister’s Office.
In his first public comment, Sunak said that there was “a lot to get on with”. Earlier in the day, in an unprecedented move, Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid resigned as the Chancellor.
Sunak previously served as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the second in command to the finance minister. He was elected to the parliament in 2015.
Born in 1980, he attended the Winchester College before going on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University.
Before entering politics, the UK-born son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs.
A Conservative party MP for Richmond (Yorkshire), Sunak was appointed the parliamentary under-secretary of state in the ministry of housing, communities and local government as part of a new year reshuffle last year in Theresa May government.