Sunak survives 100 days as UK PM, with no tangible achievements, only complex problems.

Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, must win over millions of people if he wants to avoid an electoral defeat. To his left are irate unions; to his right are worried Conservative Party lawmakers.

It’s a challenging scenario for Sunak, who will have been in office for 100 days on Thursday, more than twice as long as his disastrous predecessor, Liz Truss. After Truss’ proposal for large tax cuts caused panic, Sunak, 42, was appointed as the Conservative leader and, after becoming prime minister on October 25, he stabilized the financial markets and prevented an economic meltdown.

Then, after years of scandals under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain’s youngest leader in two centuries — and its first prime minister of South Asian descent — has pledged to rein in spiraling inflation, revive the stagnant economy, relieve pressure on the overburdened healthcare system, and “restore the integrity back into politics.”

Not as easy as it seems.

Sunak said to a gathering of medical professionals last week, “I can’t do anything about the things that happened before I was prime minister.”How I handle the issues that happen while I’m in charge is what I think you can hold me accountable for,” he said.

According to Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government, Sunak was able to dispel the false notion that the United Kingdom “had a wholly insane government.”

She remarked, “You would chalk that up as the first item he had on his to-do list. Otherwise, it’s a little difficult to see specific accomplishments.

Former U.K. Treasury head Sunak has made the nation’s economic woes his primary goal. The UK will be the only major economy to contract this year, falling by 0.6%, according to the International Monetary Fund’s prediction released this week. Gross domestic product is still lower than it was prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

Sunak attributes the pandemic’s disruption and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to external factors. Critics claim that Brexit, which has caused a severe decline in commerce between the United Kingdom and the European Union, is an issue that has to be addressed.

On Wednesday, Sunak, a steadfast supporter of Britain leaving the EU, argued that the cost-of-living crisis had “nothing to do with Brexit.”

Whatever the reasons, Sunak’s financial options are limited. Annual inflation reached a painful 10.5% in December after reaching a four-decade high of 11.1% in October. The largest wave of strikes the UK has seen in decades is currently taking place as nurses, paramedics, teachers, border officers, and other employees fight for pay rises to help balance the rising cost of living and the strains of working in an increasingly understaffed public sector.

Despite the harm caused by “Trussonomics” only a few months ago, a faction inside the Conservative Party is advocating for rapid tax cuts to promote growth.

This Monday, former Conservative leader and Congressman Iain Duncan Smith remarked, “We need growth or our debts will get higher.” “Target tax cuts will aid in achieving that.”

Sunak is opposing both tax-cutting Tories and labor unions. He contends that inflation would increase even more if public sector employees received double-digit salary increases and that “the best tax cut right now is a reduction in inflation.”

According to economists, U.K. inflation would probably decline in 2023, enabling Sunak to fulfill one of his major commitments. It may be more difficult to accomplish other objectives.

He wants to strengthen ties with the 27-member EU, and both parties have made strides toward settling a disagreement over trade regulations in Northern Ireland that has hurt businesses and forced the closure of the regional administration in Belfast.

Any accord, though, will infuriate Conservative Eurosceptics who will undoubtedly view rapprochement with Brussels as a betrayal of Brexit. British unionists in Northern Ireland are also opposed to a compromise because they believe that customs inspections after Brexit will harm Northern Ireland’s standing inside the UK.

In addition, Sunak has failed to erase the Conservative Party’s stain of scandal and sleaze. Gavin Williamson, a member of his cabinet, resigned in November following allegations of bullying. Sunak ousted party chair Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday for keeping a multimillion-dollar tax battle a secret. The charges that Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, intimidated public staff are the subject of an investigation.

Keir Starmer, the head of the opposition Labor Party, claimed on Wednesday that Sunak was “too weak” to deal with inappropriate behavior.

Sunak, who was picked as party leader by the 357 Conservative members of Parliament, has not yet received feedback from the British people. Sunak may have time on his side since the administration doesn’t have to hold a national election until late 2024.

In polls, the Conservatives are trailing Labor by 20 points or more, and underwhelming local election results in May could lead to calls for another leadership change.

Some Conservatives yearn for Johnson’s comeback after his closing speech to Parliament as prime minister, which included the phrase “Hasta la vista, baby,” which suggested a comeback.

Some analysts believe that any Conservative leader may be too late to save their party. 66% of respondents to an Ipsos poll conducted this week, which was deemed accurate to within 4 percentage points, wanted the ruling party to change. 10% of people agreed that the Conservatives did a good job.

Emeritus professor of politics at the University of Nottingham Steven Fielding compared the atmosphere to the latter years of Prime Minister John Major’s administration, which was overthrown by Tony Blair’s victory in the 1997 general election, ending 18 years of Conservative control.

People are merely waiting for them to leave, according to Fielding. And the more agitated the voters become with them, the longer they remain there.

Sunak “is doing his best,” he claimed. But nobody pays attention.