Who is Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty? Why PM candidate's wife had non-dom status and her family

Rishi Sunak is closing in on becoming the next prime minister, less than two months after losing a Tory leadership contest to Liz Truss.

If the former chancellor defeats Penny Mordaunt as expected, he will be handed the keys to 10 Downing Street – a property he has already spent significant time in.

Mr Sunak lived at No 10 while he was chancellor under Boris Johnson – since Tony Blair prime ministers have typically lived in the larger flat above No 11, with the chancellor staying next door.

He lived there with his wife, Akshata Murty, who hit headlines earlier this year amid a row over her non-domiciled status.

Ms Murty and Mr Sunak met while they were studying at Stanford University in the US. They got married in Bengaluru in India in 2009 and moved from the US to the UK four years later, shortly before Mr Sunak first became an MP.

When she was young her parents, NR Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty, left her in the care of her grandparents to move to Mumbai in order to earn more money for the family.

She went on to study economics and French at the private Claremont McKenna College in California, moved in to the Fashion of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, and finally gained her MBA from Stanford.

Her first job after Stanford was as a marketing director for a Dutch technology incubator fund in San Francisco.

She launched her own fashion label, Akshata Designs, in 2007. However, the brand collapsed after a few years.

Mr Murthy is the co-founder of Indian tech giant Infosys, of which his daughter owns a stake of almost 1 per cent, with the holding believed to be worth around £700m.

Her family also has a £900m joint venture with Amazon in India, while Ms Murty herself owns a UK-based venture capital company, and is a director or direct shareholder at five other UK companies, including Jamie Oliver’s pizza restaurants.

She also owns the London-based Catamaran Ventures UK with Mr Sunak, though he transferred his shares to her before he became an MP in 2015.

Ms Murty and Mr Sunak faced criticism in April when it was revealed she was domiciled outside of the UK for tax purposes.

She remained domiciled in India, despite living in the UK for nine years, meaning she was not required to pay UK tax on foreign earnings.

She did not take British citizenship, as it would have forced her to give up citizenship of India.

A spokeswoman for Ms Murty said at the time: “Akshata Murty is a citizen of India, the country of her birth and parents’ home. India does not allow its citizens to hold the citizenship of another country simultaneously.”

She has since given up her non-dom status, and now pays British taxes on all her worldwide income.

“It has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as chancellor. I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family,” she said.

She added: “Rishi has always respected the fact that I am Indian and as proud of my country as he is of his.

“He has never asked me to abandon my Indian citizenship, ties to India or my business affairs, despite the ways in which such a move would have simplified things for him politically.

“He knows that my long-standing shareholding in Infosys is not just a financial investment but also testament to my father’s work, of which I am incredibly proud.

“My decision to pay UK tax on all my worldwide income will not change the fact that India remains the country of my birth, citizenship, parents’ home and place of domicile. But I love the UK too. In my time here I have invested in British businesses and supported British causes.

“My daughters are British. They are growing up in in the UK. I am so proud to be here.”