Who are Rishi Sunak's parents?

Who are Rishi Sunak’s parents? PM’s second-generation Indian Punjabi GP father and pharmacist mother made ‘sacrifices to send him to £42,000-a-year college’ and inspired him to make a ‘positive difference’

• Mr Sunak was born in Southampton to second-generation Indian Punjabi parents
• His father Yashvir was born in Kenya, while his mother Usha was born in Tanzania
• Grew up watching GP father and pharmacist mother serve their local community

As new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak enters 10 Downing Street as the UK’s first non-white and Hindu leader, there is no doubt that the ‘sacrifices’ made by his parents to set him on the path to the most powerful office in the land will be at the forefront of his mind. 

Born in Southampton to second-generation Indian Punjabi parents, Mr Sunak, 42, has spoken publicly about how he grew up watching his father, a GP, and his mother, who is a pharmacist, serve their local community with dedication.

His father Yashvir was born and raised in Kenya, while his mother Usha was born in Tanzania. 

The couple met after migrating to the UK where Yashvir studied medicine at the University, and Mr Sunak is the eldest of their three children. 

He has previously opened up about how his parents had to make sacrifices to send him to Winchester College, where fees are currently £42,000 a year. 

Rishi Sunak will become Prime Minister after yesterday being made Conservative Party leader. Pictured, his mother Usha with her family 

Mr Sunak, 42, from Southampton, whose Indian parents immigrated to Britain, will now visit the King to be appointed as the UK’s first non-white and Hindu leader. Pictured, Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murthy with his parents

After Oxford Mr Sunak studied at California’s Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murty

Mr Sunak has previously spoken of how did the books at his mother’s pharmacy in Southampton while he was growing up and would deliver medicines on his bike. 

‘I grew up watching my parents serve our local community with dedication. My dad was an NHS family GP and my mum ran her own local chemist shop,’ wrote Mr Sunak on his website.

‘I wanted to make that same positive difference to people as their Member of Parliament,’ he added.

His mother’s pharmacy helped to fund Mr Sunak’s fees at Oakmout, a local prep school, before he moved to Stroud School in Hampshire.   

 The family were able to move to a six bedroom home and a neighbour has told The Times that Rishi and his siblings would play cricket in the street.

‘Their parents encouraged the children to do well and gave them whatever opportunities they could. They were lovely neighbours,’ she said.

She added that Mr Sunak’s father had recently been spotted volunteering at a Covid vaccination centre. 

Mr Sunak completed his secondary education at Winchester College, one of Britain’s most expensive private schools. 

He said: ‘My parents sacrificed a great deal so I could attend good schools. I was lucky to study at Winchester College, Oxford University and Stanford University.

His father previously remarked that the fees were  ‘quite a large financial commitment’. 

Mr Sunak previously shared pictures of his childhood in a three-minute long video when he launched his first Tory leadership campaign this summer

The new PM has regularly spoken of how his father, Yashvir, was an NHS GP in Southampton

‘That experience changed my life and as a result I am passionate about ensuring everybody has access to a great education. 

‘I have been a school governor, a board member of a large youth club, and have always volunteered my time to education programmes that spread opportunity.’

Sunak’s grandparents were from Punjab in northern India and emigrated to Britain from eastern Africa in the 1960s.

They arrived with ‘very little’, Sunak told MPs in his maiden speech.

He previously insisted his own family’s experience, and that of his mega-rich wife’s, are a ‘very Conservative’ story of hard work and aspiration.

While he is fiercely proud of his Indian and Hindu heritage, he regards Britain as his home. ‘British Indian’ is what I tick on the census,’ he has said.

Born in Southampton to second-generation Indian Punjabi parents, Mr Sunak has spoken publicly about how he grew up watching his father (left), a GP, and his mother, who is a pharmacist, serve their local community with dedication

His father Yashvir (pictured right) was born and raised in Kenya, while his mother Usha (pictured left, with Mr Sunak’s wife) was born in Tanzania, according to LBC

‘I am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian. My wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu.’

Mr Sunak’s political journey began seven years ago when he replaced William Hague in his Yorkshire seat at the 2015 election. He only got his first ministerial job four years ago but became Chancellor of the Exchequer aged 39 in 2020.

He will become the youngest PM in the modern era to enter No 10, at the age of 42 – younger even than David Cameron in 2010 and Tony Blair in 1997.

Mr Sunak married Akshata Murty, an Indian tech billionaire’s daughter, and built a multi million-pound fortune that saw him dubbed the ‘Maharajah of the Dales’.

Her father, NR Narayana Murthy, is India’s sixth-wealthiest man thanks to his ownership of multinational business technology giant Infosys.

The couple married in her home city of Bangalore in 2009 in a two-day ceremony attended by 1,000 guests.

Thanks to his own banking fortune and that of his wife he is believed to be one of the richest members of Parliament, and owns a magnificent Georgian manor house in the small village of Kirby Sigston, just outside Northallerton in North Yorkshire.

Mr Sunak has also opened up about how his parents (pictured centre and right) had to make sacrifices to send him to Winchester College, where fees are currently £42,000 a year

Mr Sunak has praised his father-in-law’s favourite saying: ‘In God we trust — but everyone else needs to bring data to the table.’ 

After the couple returned to Britain, Mr Sunak worked for a London hedge fund before setting up his own business, Theleme Partners, in 2010, with an initial fund of $700million. He was based in the UK and the United States before entering politics and winning Richmond in 2015.

Mr Sunak’s victory would come after questions about his and his wife’s tax affairs.

In April it was revealed he had held a US Green Card – which carries American residency and tax requirements – while in office.

But Lord Geidt, the adviser on ministerial standards, cleared Mr Sunak of wrongdoing after the chancellor referred himself for investigation. 

There was also uproar over Ms Murty’s tax status and her shareholding in her father’s tech firm while living in a grace-and-favour apartment in Downing Street. 

Ms Murty legally avoided a huge UK tax bill by paying £30,000 a year to register as being based in India.

The India-born 42-year-old later said she would give up her right to pay only ‘international tax’ on her foreign fortune. 

The move, designed to save Mr Sunak’s political career, is likely to cost Ms Murty millions of pounds a year in extra tax. 

Mr Sunak insisted she hadn’t ‘done anything wrong’ while accusing his critics of ‘smearing her to get at him’. 

In his May 2021 annual statement the independent adviser on ministers’ interests said he had ‘gone through the individual returns’ of members of the Cabinet, including their tax affairs and the interests of their spouses.

He went on to say that ‘any issues have been resolved to my satisfaction’, suggesting he was happy with Ms Murty’s tax status, her shareholding in Infosys and the Green Card.

Billionaire heiress set to be Downing Street’s next ‘first lady’: Former fashion designer Akshata Murthy faced a backlash over her tax affairs – and Mrs Sunak is ‘richer than the King’ thanks to her father’s IT empire

10 Downing Street has been home to many prime ministers and their partners – but the couple moving in at the end of this week, Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy, are set to be the wealthiest SW1A has ever seen. 

Samantha Cameron, wife of former prime minister David and the UK’s ‘first lady’ from 2010 to 2016, made headlines during her spell in Number 10 for the enormous fortune she was set to inherit.

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.

And, having faced scrutiny for her non-dom tax status in the last year, she is no stranger to the attention that comes with being the Prime Minister’s wife – while Rishi himself has given voters glimpses into their private life and the things they bicker about. 

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

Akshata Murthy, 42, with Rishi Sunak, also 42, who she has been married to since 2009 after the pair met at Stanford University. The billionaire heiress will move into 10 Downing Street this week after her husband won the Conservative Party leadership contest

The couple have a combined fortune of £730 million, according to The Sunday Times Rich List

Akshata, who is known for her love of designer items, is seen handing cups of tea to members of the Press following her husband’s resignation as chancellor in July

The couple have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka (pictured with their parents at Rishi’s campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party in July) 

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

In an interview with The Times in August, as he languished behind Liz Truss in the first Tory leadership contest, Rishi gave voters an insight into his marriage.

He told the newspaper: ‘My family all drink, my wife definitely drinks. It massively irritates her that I don’t.’ 

The former chancellor added he was finally persuaded to have a few shots shortly before his wedding in India in 2009, but admitted he didn’t like the taste.

Rishi added there are several other ways in which the couple are like chalk and cheese – with housekeeping being their biggest difference.

Akshata has previously raised eyebrows with her high-end wardrobe. She wears a box-fresh pair of £445 Gucci trainers, a REDValentino shearling and leather coat costing £1,630 and a leather skirt worth more then £1,000, for a date night with her husband in Mayfair in 2020

‘I’m incredibly tidy, she’s very messy,’ he said. ‘I’m much more organised, she is more spontaneous… she is not going to love me for saying this but I’ll be honest with you, she is not big on the whole tidying thing. She is a total nightmare, clothes everywhere… and shoes… oh God, shoes.’

Akshata, a former fashion designer, and her brother Rohan were largely raised by their paternal grandparents while their ambitious mother and father pursued careers in engineering and science.

While her father Narayana went on to found Infosys and build his fortune, Akshata’s mother Sudha became the first female engineer to work for India’s biggest car manufacturer TELCO.

She had a passion for fashion from an early age and has recalled how her mother scolded her for paying more attention to glamour than she did her studies.  

After finishing school, Akshata moved to the US, where she completed degrees in economics and French at Claremont McKenna College in California and studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA.

It was when she moved to Stanford University to study for an MBA that she met her husband Rishi, who was studying at the top college after being granted a Fulbright scholarship.

Rishi recently admitted there was ‘clearly something’ there when he and Akshata first met – and added he is an enormous fan of rom-coms, prompting him to change some of his classes so that he could sit next to his wife.

Four years later, in 2009, they married in a lavish ceremony in Bengaluru in India, which was the couple’s home for the next four years.

Family fun! Rishi and Akshata take part in a Christmas run with their young daughters, dressing up as Santa for the occasion

Tory blue: Akshata, the daughter of billionaire Indian IT mogul Narayana Murthy, donned a £165 dress by High Street label Club Monaco for the outing to Margaret Thatcher’s hometown of Grantham. Pictured: She and Rishi are joined by their daughters on the campaign trail in July

During their early years together, Akshata pursued a career in fashion and set up her own business in 2007, Akshata Designs, based on celebrating Indian culture, discovering artists in remote villages and working with them and their designs to create her own. 

‘I’m about the story behind a particular garment, it’s authenticity, craftsmanship and protecting a rich heritage,’ she told Vogue. ‘I care about doing something in India, for India because it’s part of our family’s DNA.’ 

However, her business venture fell flat and collapsed after just three years.

Nonetheless, the mother of two has continued to hold stakes in businesses over the years – including the family empire, Infosys and a project she and Rishi set up together, Catamaran Ventures UK. She has also been linked to Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria and Etonian tailor, New & Lingwood.

Murthy’s Millions: Akshata’s family business portfolio 

• Combined shareholding in tech firm Infosys worth £1.7billion
• Joint venture with Amazon, Cloudtail, in India worth £900m a year
• Shareholding in UK firm which runs Jamie’s Italian restaurants and burger chain Wendy’s in India
• Also holds shares in Koru Kids and is director of Digme Fitness 
• Akshata is a shareholder or director in five other UK companies, including Mayfair outfitter which makes Eton College pupils’ tailcoats costing £2,500 each 
• Akshata is also listed as a director of the UK arm of software company, Soroco, co-founded by her brother 
• Investment firm Catamaran Ventures owned by father Narayana Murthy
• She runs fashion label Akshata Designs 

Eventually Rishi and Akshata moved to the UK in 2013, where Rishi became MP for Richmond in Yorkshire two years later.

The couple now live in a £7 million townhouse in Kensington with their daughters, which is just one of several properties they own.

As well as the townhouse, they also enjoy a £1million flat in Kensington and a £2million mansion in Rishi’s Yorkshire constituency, where he is nicknamed the ‘Maharaja of the Dales’. They also have a £5.5million penthouse in California, overlooking Santa Monica pier, which they use in the holidays. 

Although not an elected politician herself, Akshata has become the subject of public scrutiny on more than one occasion – both in relation to her fortune and her fashion choices.

Earlier this year she made headlines for her non-domicile (‘non-dom’) tax status, which is a legal way to avoid paying taxes in Britain on overseas income. The status is often used by the super-wealthy to save thousands or even millions of pounds in tax.

It is thought the bulk of Akshata’s wealth comes from Infosys, which is based in Bangalore.

After the tax revelation was revealed, the couple faced intense backlash – which led to Akshata ultimately giving up her non-dom status and promising to pay tax in the UK on the fortunes she brought in from around the world.

She released a statement defending her ‘entirely legal’ arrangement, but ultimately conceded to give up the status.

The statement read: ‘It has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as Chancellor. 

‘I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family.

‘This means I will now pay UK tax on an arising basis on all my worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, wherever in the world that income arises. I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to.’

As well as her tax status, the mother of two has also raised eyebrows with her wardrobe, after stepping out on occasion in outfits worth thousands of pounds.

In December 2020, the IT heiress wore a box-fresh pair of £445 Gucci trainers, a REDValentino shearling and leather coat costing £1,630 and a leather skirt worth more then £1,000, for a date night with her husband in upmarket Mayfair. 

However, during Rishi’s first leadership campaign in the summer of 2022 – in which he lost out to Liz Truss – Akshata stepped out in a High-Street outfit at a campaign event for her husband.

She donned a £165 dress by high street label Club Monaco for the outing to Margaret Thatcher’s hometown of Grantham. 

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