Rishi Sunak is the frontrunner to succeed Liz Truss as Conservative Party leader.
A former chancellor (Feb. 2020 to July 2022) he has enjoyed a swift rise from being elected in 2015 as MP for Richmond (Yorks) to now going for the top job.
But what do we know about him?
- Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980 to parents of Indian descent who had emigrated from East Africa. His father was a GP and his mother ran her own pharmacy. He would be the first British Asian PM
- He was educated at private boarding school Winchester College, Oxford University and Stanford University in California
- It was in the US that he met his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire and IT mogul. She and Sunak, 42, have two daughters
- He has never commented publicly on how much he is worth, but his career in finance before entering politics is reported to have made him a millionaire while still in his twenties. You can read more on he and his wife's joint fortunes here
- The finances of Sunak and his family came under intense scrutiny this year, with his wife's tax affairs placed in the spotlight. Murty then said she would start paying UK tax on her overseas earnings, relieving political pressure on her husband
- If chosen today, Sunak would become Tory Party leader on Diwali - the Hindu festival of lights
- He doesn't drink alcohol but likes cola
