Desi memes take internet by storm as Rishi Sunak becomes UK PM

Rishi Sunak on Tuesday took charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister and the floodgates of desi memes opened.

The 42-year-old investment banker-turned politician is the youngest British prime minister in 210 years. He is also Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister.

Also read: Indian-origin Rishi Sunak takes charge as UK PM with promise to ‘fix mistakes’
Sunak was born in Southampton and attended Winchester School a very expensive and well-respected private school. He studied at Oxford and Stanford and worked in the financial sector for Goldman Sachs. He spent a few years living and working in Silicon Valley after graduating, where he met his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of N R Narayana Murty, an Indian billionaire.

In his first address at the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in London, the new Prime Minister said that he takes over at a time when the UK is facing a “profound economic crisis” as it deals with the aftermath of COVID and the Russia-Ukraine conflict and asserted that he is “not daunted by the high office he has accepted and hopes to live up to its demands.

“Some mistakes were made; not borne of ill-will or bad intentions but mistakes nonetheless and I have been elected as leader of my party and your Prime Minister in part to fix them,” said Sunak, the second prime minister in as many months and the third this year.

“I will unite our country not with words but with action. I will work day in and day out to deliver for you,” he said.

Sunak only entered parliament in 2015, taking the safe seat of Richmond in North Yorkshire very Conservative country succeeding former party leader William Hague. He was largely unknown outside the party until 2020 a new MP making his way in parliament, impressing people but not holding high office.

However, things change quickly in politics, and the resignation of Sajid Javid in February 2020 left an opening in government. Johnson handed Sunak the job of chancellor one of the greatest state roles in the UK. His honeymoon in the role was cut short by the arrival of COVID. Sunak found himself not only having to deal with the financial impact of a pandemic but was also tasked with appearing on television on a practically daily basis to update the country on his decisions.

Despite the pressure, Sunak turned the situation into a personal success. He was widely credited and praised for the furlough scheme that saw the government paying the wages of people unable to work because of lockdowns. Forgotten are the many days during which Sunak was accused of dithering about whether to introduce such a scheme in the first place.

Sunak’s popularity soared as people felt that his actions spared them from the worst financial effects of the pandemic, but with vaccines rolling out and the return of something like normal life, questions began to be asked about how Britain would recover economically.

(With PTI inputs)

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