Prime numbers

At 42, Rishi Sunak is Britain’s youngest PM since Lord Liverpool took office the day after his 42nd birthday in June 1812. He replaced Spencer Perceval, the only British prime minister to be assassinated. Much is made of Sunak’s wealth, but he hasn’t enjoyed the privilege Lord Liverpool did (his father was an adviser to George III). Thanks in part to his connections, Lord Liverpool was elected to the Commons as member for Rye at the age of just 20. As he had to be 21 to sit in the Commons, he went on a Grand Tour of Europe until he came of age. He was PM for 15 uninterrupted years.

Asian heritage

How large is the Asian British population?

– According to the ONS, there are 4.2m people in England and Wales – 7.5% of the population – who define themselves as having Asian heritage. Of these, 1.4m (2.5%) define themselves as of Indian heritage. These figures, however, are estimates based on the 2011 census. The Asian population varies from 18.5% in London and 10.8% in the West Midlands to 2% in the south-west and 2.3% in Wales. 97.4% live in urban areas, compared with 81.5% of the overall population.

The price of staples

How has the cost of the cheapest brand grocery items changed in the past year?

Percentage change

Vegetable oil 65.2%

Pasta 59.9%

Tea 46.0%

Bread 37.6%

Tomatoes 19.3%

Sausages 18.3%

Pizza 3.2%

Rice-0.2%

Granulated sugar -0.3%

Beef mince -7.4%

Source: ONS

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Does the south get all the new trains?

Average age of rolling stock (years)

NEWEST

Lumo (London-Edinburgh) 0.8

Hull Trains 2.3

Caledonian Sleeper 4.2

Heathrow Express 5.6

LNER6.6

London Overground 7.6

OLDEST

Merseyrail 42.6

Transport for Wales 29.4

Chiltern 28.9

South West Trains 23.6

Cross Country 23.4

Source: Office of Rail and Road

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