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Host Ailbhe Rea profiles the U.K.’s new prime minister, with the help of those who know him best. From his early years in Southampton and his lifelong Hindu faith; his elite education at Winchester, Oxford and Stanford; to his rapid rise through the political ranks, his time as U.K. chancellor and his machinations for the top job, we uncover the values, personality traits, priorities and potential pitfalls of the new man in No. 10.
At the Hindu temple in Southampton that Rishi Sunak’s family have been attending for generations, we learn about what he was like as a young boy and the values instilled in him by his faith.
Shabana Mahmood, now his opponent as Labour’s national campaign coordinator, recalls Rishi the “library geek” from their days at Oxford together, and Alan Mak, a former Treasury minister and the Conservative MP for Havant, recalls the buzz around this high-flying banker when he arrived in parliament in 2015. Peter Cardwell, now political editor at TalkTV, looks back on being a special adviser working with Sunak in his first junior ministerial role. Cardwell’s book is “The Secret Life of Special Advisers.”
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates analyzes Rishi Sunak’s rise through the ranks at Westminster — his strengths, weaknesses, and the help of Dominic Cummings — while one of the prime minister’s former advisers and closest allies, the education minister Claire Coutinho, describes his approach to economics and being vindicated after the leadership contest.
Source: Politico
