Rishi Sunak - who is the North Yorkshire MP delivering the Budget?

North Yorkshire MP Rishi Sunak became Chancellor of the Exchequer just 27 days before having to deliver a Budget - in which he’s tasked with responding to the coronavirus outbreak, and "levelling up" the country by increasing prosperity in regions like ours.

So, who is the man who will be holding the famous red briefcase?

Credit: @RishiSunak

The man

  • Rishi Sunak is 39, his family come from India and he was born in Southampton

  • His father was a GP and his mother was a pharmacist

  • He lives with his wife, Akshata, and two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton

  • His father-in-law is NR Narayana Murty, a billionaire who co-founded the Indian IT company Infosys

  • He is a Hindu, and has taken his oath in the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit text

The eldest of three children and born into what he dubbed an “NHS family” Credit: PA

Before politics

  • Mr Sunak attended the private Winchester College, and then Oxford University

  • He worked for the bank Goldman Sachs, was a hedge fund manager, and co-founded an investment firm

At 39, he misses out on being the youngest chancellor of the past century by just a single year Credit: PA

In Parliament

  • Mr Sunak succeeded William Hague as the MP for Richmond, in North Yorkshire, in 2015

  • He campaigned for ‘Leave’ in the 2016 European Union referendum

  • He now the biggest majority of any MP in the North East and North Yorkshire, beating his nearest rival by more than 27,000 votes at the 2019 general election

The PM was quick to reward Mr Sunak’s loyalty, making him chief secretary to the Treasury after entering Downing Street in July. Credit: PA

In government

  • Mr Sunak was appointed as a Local Government Minister in January 2018

  • He was made Chief Secretary to the Treasury in July 2019 after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister

  • He stood in for the PM at two TV debates during the election campaign

  • He became Chancellor of the Exchequer on 13 February, after Sajid Javid resigned over an order to sack all of his advisers

  • He caused a social media row recently after posting a photo with a giant bag of Yorkshire Tea - some Conservative critics attacked the company, which then took to Twitter to urge people to “try to be kind”

The picture that caused a social media storm Credit: @RishiSunak Twitter