BREAKING: Rishi Sunak elected new UK Prime Minister

Seven weeks after losing to Liz Truss in this year’s first Tory leadership contest, Rishi Sunak has emerged victor in this one.

 Born to East African-born Hindu parents of Punjabi Indian descent, Yashvir and Usha Sunak, he is set become the UK’s first British Asian prime minister, and will take office as the UK faces enormous economic challenges.

By Monday afternoon Rishi Sunak was declared the next prime after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure 100 nominations from MPs.

Earlier it was announced that if Ms Mordaunt falls short of this total by the deadline of 2pm on Monday, or pulls out of the contest, Mr Sunak will take charge of the party without the need for a vote. If she does get the numbers, MPs will then decide which of the two candidates they prefer in an “indicative” vote. There will then be a final online poll of party members with the result due on Friday – unless one of the candidates pulls out.

 

Who is Rishi Sunak?

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy, are set to be the wealthiest number 10 Downing Street has ever seen.

But billionaire heiress Akshata, 42, is said to be wealthier than the King due to her £430 million stake in her father’s IT empire.

Rishi, also 42, his wife and their daughters Krishna and Anoushka will be the first Hindu family to occupy the prime ministerial home.

The former chancellor has had something of a meteoric rise in the seven years since he first became an MP, and now Akshata is the new ‘first lady’ of the UK with her own fortune – and a chic wardrobe – to boot.

The billionaire heiress is the daughter of Indian IT mogul Narayana Murthy who owns Bangalore-based Infosys.

Together, the Sunaks have a combined fortune of £730 million, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed in May.