Rishi Sunak resigns as UK Prime Minister after historic defeat

On 4 July, Rishi Sunak announced that he is resigning from the position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His wife is the Indian businesswoman Akshata Murty, who possesses a fortune greater not only than her beloved but also King Charles III.

In October 2022, Rishi Sunak, along with his wife Akshata Murty, moved to one of the most famous streets in London. When the member of the Conservative Party took office as Prime Minister, nothing indicated that less than two years later he would resign. The resignation of the Prime Minister is a response to the worst defeat in the history of the Conservative Party, which took place in the Thursday elections for the House of Commons.

As soon as the British politician of Indian origin moved to Downing Street, he caught the attention of the media. Soon, however, everyone began to wonder who his wife, Akshata Murty, was.

Akshata Murty did not remain in the shadow of her famous husband. She is a fashion designer and the daughter of an Indian billionaire. At one point, the politician's beloved was involved in a scandal concerning taxes in the United Kingdom.

Akshata Murty and Rishi Sunak met at Stanford University. They got married in 2009, and a few years later had two daughters - Krishna and Anoushka. According to "The Sun", in 2022, the fortune of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was £200 million. This is an impressive amount, but greater interest is drawn by the fortune of his wife, Akshata Murty, which in the same year was £500 million.

Akshata is therefore not only more than twice as wealthy as her husband but also richer than King Charles III, whose fortune was estimated at just under £500 million after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. According to "The Times," Akshata and Rishi own "at least four properties," including a house in the Kensington district of London worth £7 million.

The 44-year-old runs Akshata Designs, holds shares in Jamie Oliver's restaurants, Wendy's chain in India, and Digme Fitness gym chain in London, where she is a director. Moreover, since 2015, she has owned just under one percent of the shares of Infosys, her father's technology company, headquartered in India. This small share, however, has been valued at £700 million.

In April 2022, Akshata Murty found herself at the centre of a tax scandal. It turned out that the Prime Minister's wife, being an Indian citizen and holding only an Indian passport, not only has non-dom status in the United Kingdom (a term describing a resident of the UK whose permanent home is outside the country - editor's note), but also uses it to avoid paying taxes.

Thanks to this status, Murty was exempt from paying, among others, British tax on income from foreign investments, tax on renting foreign properties, and bank interest. It is estimated that in a few years she "saved" up to £20 million in this way. When this information came to light, the 44-year-old millionaire did not give up her non-dom status but declared that she would pay taxes on the island for all her income.