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Kate Plummer
Oct 24, 2022
Rishi Sunak Wins Race To Become UK’s Next Prime Minister
Indy
Rishi Sunak is the latest person to have a go at running the country this year.
In the summer, he was one of the many members of the government to resign from Boris Johnson's cabinet, triggering his resignation and a leadership race that Sunak stood in.
He came second to Liz Truss who had a stab at things for six chaotic weeks, before she too throw in the towel, only for Sunak to come off the subs bench and throw his hat in the ring again.
Yes, there has been a lot of throwing towels and hats in British politics in the last few months.
Sunak won because Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 group of backbench MPs decided MPs would need the nomination of 100 other Tory MPs to run for leadership and Sunak was the only MP to meet that threshold. So here we are, and here is Sunak and what can we say?
There are many ways to describe Rishi Sunak, and here is just another way to chart his time in power - in numbers.
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170
This is the number of cm in vertical altitude Sunak reaches, or his height if you are interested in that sort of thing.
\u201cHow much of Rishi Sunak's success is that he reads as much taller on television than his reported 5'7" height?\u201d— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1666621964
42
This is how old Sunak is, making him the youngest prime minister for nearly 200 years. The youngest ever is William Pitt the Younger who was just 24 when he became PM in 1783.
7
This is how many years Sunak has been in parliament. He was elected as an MP in 2015.
2
Two is the number of times Sunak has stood in Tory leadership elections. They've both been in the same year which is really quite something.
1
Sunak received a fixed penalty notice as part of the Metropolitan Police's Partygate probe, meaning he has paid one police fine during his time.
730
This is how many millions he might have knocking about his bank.
\u201cRishi Sunak\u2019s estimated wealth is \u00a3730 million.\n\nA worker earning the median wage (\u00a331,772) would need to have been working since the Stone Age 22,976 years ago to amass the same.\n\nAnd that\u2019s without tax.\n\nRemember it when he tells you to tighten your belt.\n\n#EnoughIsEnough\u201d— Enough is Enough (@Enough is Enough) 1666618752
No wonder he is often accused of being out of touch.
83
That's how long his first speech was as Tory leader and prime minister, which all in all feels a little underwhelming.
\u201c"I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility"\n\nRishi Sunak promises to "work day in day out to deliver for the British people" in first public speech since being named next UK PM\n\nhttps://t.co/NyKXVGLzMu\u201d— BBC Breaking News (@BBC Breaking News) 1666624284
That's Sunak in seven simple stats.
It is a simple and fundamental principle that the government derives its democratic legitimacy from the people. The future of the country must not be decided by plotting and U-turns at Westminster; it must be decided by the people in a general election. And for this reason The Independent is calling for an election to be held. Have your say and sign our election petition by clicking here.
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