Rishi Sunak is set to become the next Prime Pinister of the United Kingdom. This comes after Penny Mordaunt, his sole rival, dropped out of the leadership race on Monday. Former Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, also dropped out of the race on Sunday, due to his “inability to unite the Conservative Party”. 

Sunak was born to parents of Punjabi descent who immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. 

Sunak is the first Indian-origin Prime Minister of the UK. He is also a practising Hindu, he lit Diwali diyas at his residence on Downing Street as a Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson’s leadership. 

Who are Yashvir and Usha Sunak?

Rishi Sunak’s grandparents, both maternal and paternal, were originally from Punjab. They migrated to East Africa in order to make a living for themselves. This is where Yashvir and Usha Sunak, parents of Sunak were born in Kenya and Tanganyika respectively. 

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Sunak’s grandparents moved to the UK later, Yashvir and Usha were first introduced to each other here. They tied a knot in 1977 in Leicester.

Yashvir Sunak is a General Practitioner (GP) in the National Health Service (NHS) and Usha Sunak is currently the director and pharmacist at the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton and has a degree from Aston University. 

Sunak has talked about his parents in multiple interviews: “Family is everything to me. And my family gave me opportunities they could only dream of. But it was Britain, our country that gave them, and millions like them, the chance of a better future,” he gratefully said. 

He also talked about how his parents were strict about education and saved money to send him to the best boarding school in the UK. “My parents sacrificed a great deal so I could attend good schools. I was lucky to study at Winchester College, Oxford, and Stanford University,”

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In early September, Sunak shared a post on his Instagram captioned, “Wow, I will never forget the reception I received from the members in London last night and it was so special to have my parents there too.”