UK prime minister Rishi Sunak made his first speech from Downing Street after meeting with King Charles. Video / AP
Opinion
EDITORIAL
New Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may expect a bounce in the polls after taking over, although any lift will be more for who he isn’t than who he is.
The scarred legacy handed to Sunak by his two predecessors will take some time toheal over and fade.
Polls have consistently shown over recent months that the British public has grown heartily sick of the Conservatives. Just prior to Liz Truss’ resignation, Labour was polling at a record 25.2 per cent ahead of the Conservatives which, if an election was to be held, would hand Labour more than 400 seats in the House of Commons.
Truss’ shambolic capitulation and further attention-seeking antics from Boris Johnson during the leadership selection will have done nothing to lift those numbers.
Sunak appeared to be cognisant of the task ahead yesterday when he delivered a stilted first speech as leader. As a former chancellor of the exchequer, he will be intimately aware of the precipitous state of the British economy left by Truss’ botched and then aborted tax-cutting package, as well as his own pandemic response schemes.
He will be buoyed that markets in Europe gained ground and UK government bonds rallied as word came though he was assured of becoming the prime minister but there is still much work to be done to stabilise the economy and put the brakes on soaring inflation.
Illustration / Guy Body
Sunak is from the moderate wing of the party so won’t be right-wing enough for the hardcore faction. The man described as a “principled pragmatist” previously increased corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent, raised National Insurance by 1.5 percentage points, and established the highest tax regime in Britain since the 1960s.
The son of a Kenyan-born GP has built his career on a reputation for competence rather than the popularism of Johnson or the Margaret Thatcher acolyte Truss. The Northern winter will test Sunak’s repute as the author of a furlough scheme and business loans that need to be paid for.
With a general election not due until the beginning of 2025, Sunak has time to play his economic cards before focusing on attempts to restore the party in public esteem.
Sunak is the first non-white prime minister, the first Hindu, and the first ethnic-minority PM since Benjamin Disraeli left office in 1880. He has, with his parentage, an air of a UK Barack Obama.
However, Obama swept to office on a message of “hope” while Sunak has taken leadership by the default of failed antecedents. Before hope can be held, the British public will need to be shown a prime minister worth believing in.
And speaking of antecedents, the presence of the Covid-rule flouting Johnson this week after cutting short a Caribbean holiday to check the waters for a leadership comeback is a reminder that he remains the threat within and will seize on any opportunity that Sunak allows for a return to 10 Downing Street.
