In his new part-time role, Sunak will advise the firm on macroeconomic and geopolitical issues, but will remain as Conservative MP for Richmond and Northallerton, his parliamentary seat in Yorkshire.

This marks a return to the investment bank where Suank started his career, first as a summer intern in 2000 and later as an analyst between 2001 and 2004, before leaving to co-found his own hedge fund in the US after doing an MBA at Stanford. After a successful financial career he went into politics and was elected as a Conservative MP in 2015, and then went on to lead the country through the pandemic as chancellor and then PM until July 2024.

All his earnings at Goldman Sachs will be donated to Sunak's education charity, The Richmond Project.

Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon said: ‘I am excited to welcome Rishi back to Goldman Sachs in his new capacity as a senior advisor.

‘In his role, he will work with leaders across the firm to advise our clients globally on a range of important topics, sharing his unique perspectives and insights on the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape.

‘He will also spend time with our people around the world, contributing to our culture of ongoing learning and development.’

Since losing the election last July in a landslide for Labour, Sunak has remained as an MP, keeping a fairly low profile in the House of Commons and was not offered a job in the shadow cabinet under the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.

He first came to the public’s attention when he was appointed chancellor by Boris Johnson just as the covid pandemic was kicking off in February 2020. His appointment was somewhat unexpected and followed the resignation of his predecessor Savid Javid, who quit the post of chancellor after a clash of views with Johnson’s advisor at the time, Dominic Cummings. Sunak had only been a minister for seven months as chief secretary to the Treasury, having been appointed by Johnson after the July 2019 election.

His generous covid support was praised at the time, including furlough payments which saved millions of jobs, but he came in for flak over the help out to eat out scheme over the summer of 2020. Subsequently the bounce back loan scheme has been viewed by many as too generous leading to over £5bn of fraudulent claims, much of which has not been recovered.

Recent contributions in parliament have mainly focused on local issues for his constituents, including rural crime, road improvements, the economic benefits of grouse shooting, and accessibility on local high streets. He has also spoken on security policy and Nato, as well as the relocation of civil service jobs last month, pointing to the success of decentralisation from London, flagging the success of the Treasury’s Darlington Economic Campus, which Sunak set up in 2021, and now has 1,000 staff located at the site.  

Sunak is also a member of the World Leader’s Circle at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford and is the William C Edwards distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the US.

Update: Two days after his appointment was announced, Sunak wrote on LinkedIn: ‘My first office job was interning at Goldman Sachs. 25 years later, I’m back - with the insight that comes from two decades in finance and politics but the same desire to make a difference I had all those years ago.

‘It’s a very different role at a very different time. I’ll be working as a senior adviser with teams around the world, sharing insights on economics, geopolitics and strategy. I’m excited to be back at the firm where I learnt so much and to get the chance to work with the exceptional team there.

‘I’m delighted that every penny I earn from the role will go to fund The Richmond Project, the education charity Akshata Murty and I launched earlier this year.’