Tuesday saw the election of Rishi Sunak as Britain’s third prime minister of the year, with the responsibility of managing an economic crisis that has placed the nation’s finances in peril and millions of people struggling to pay their food and utility bills.
King Charles III officially requested the new head of the ruling Conservative Party to form a government in front of Sunak, who is the first leader of color in the United Kingdom.
After Liz Truss’ brief, disastrous tenure, Sunak was elected party leader on Monday. His party views him as a reliable partner who will help stabilize the economy, which is headed for disaster, and stop its own declining popularity.
Her unfunded tax cuts terrified the financial markets with the threat of skyrocketing debt, sent the pound to record lows, and compelled the Bank of England to step in, undermining Britain’s already precarious economy and destroying her standing within her party.
Sunak, the 42-year-old youngest prime minister of the United Kingdom in more than 200 years, acknowledged the magnitude of his task as well as the skepticism of a public concerned about the state of the economy and tired of the Conservative Party soap opera that has consumed two prime ministers in as many months.
“I am completely aware of how difficult things are, “Outside the prime minister’s home at 10 Downing Street, Sunak added, ”I am aware that with everything that has transpired, I still have work to do to earn back people’s trust. All I can say is that I don’t feel intimidated.
When Sunak was in charge of the Treasury, he won over the public’s favor by providing billions in aid to companies that had to close their doors and employees who had been laid off because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
But in order to contain inflation and government debt, he will now need to oversee tax increases and reductions in government spending.
Sunak attempted to put an end to the instability that consumed Truss and her predecessor Boris Johnson, while acknowledging “tough decisions to come.” He promised that his administration “would accept responsibility, professionalism, and ethics at every level.”
Sunak’s opponents already paint him as being disconnected from the issues of regular people due to his wealthy status, privileged private school education, and prior work as a hedge fund manager.
Alan Wager a research associate at the think tank U.K. in a Changing Europe stated that Sunak “comes into power as not a particularly popular prime minister, but with a reputation for some semblance of economic ability.” “The issue is that he is perceived as not generally being on the side of the people. He is perceived as being largely out of touch.
Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty, whose father is the millionaire founder of the Indian IT company Infosys, is the source of a large portion of his wealth. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the pair is worth 730 million pounds ($826 million).
It was discovered in April 2022 that Murty had not paid U.K. tax on her foreign earnings. Although Murty quickly agreed to give up the practice, which was legal, it was unethical at a time when millions of Britons were trying to make ends meet.
Sunak’s top priorities will be selecting Cabinet members and getting ready for the budget statement, which will outline how the government intends to raise billions of dollars (or pounds) to close a budget gap brought on by high inflation and a weak economy and made worse by Truss’ unstable tenure in office.
If Sunak keeps Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt in his position, he is currently scheduled to make that announcement in Parliament on Monday, which is expected to include tax rises and budget reductions.
Seven weeks to the day after being named prime minister, Truss resigned on Tuesday after delivering a bold public address in front of 10 Downing Street. On Thursday, she announced her resignation, admitting she couldn’t carry out her financial objectives.
Despite the market havoc, her budget package from September 23 caused, Truss, defended her low-tax philosophy and her limited tenure in power in her final remarks.
Before wishing Sunak luck as “our country continues to battle through a storm,” she stated, “I am more certain than ever that we need to be brave and confront the difficulties we face.”
Just a few weeks after losing to Truss in a Conservative election to succeed Johnson, Sunak’s triumph is a surprising turn of events. Party members preferred her promotion of tax reductions to his cautions that inflation must be controlled.
After being the only candidate to receive 100 nominations from other parliamentarians to participate in the party election, Sunak was chosen as the Conservative leader. Sunak defeated Johnson, who was ejected after rushing back from a Caribbean vacation to garner support for a return effort but was unable to secure enough support to run, and challenger Penny Mordaunt, who might land a job in his ministry.
Sunak must work to unify the ruling party, which has fractured due to a decline in poll ratings, in addition to stabilizing the UK economy.
Sunak ally and conservative legislator Victoria Atkins predicted that Sunak will “settle down” the party.
We all realize that we need to rally around Rishi right away, and the party has done just that, she told radio station LBC.
