With the resignation of U.K Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday, October 20th after a short stint as prime minister, lasting a minuscule 44 days the United Kingdom was left without a leader over the weekend. Truss, who came to power just 2 days before the death of Queen Elizabeth, presided over a deeply tumultuous time in the history of the United Kingdom. Not only did the nation's longest reigning monarch pass away, but the nation was faced with an unbearable cost of living crisis, paired with the same high gas prices and inflation the U.S and other nations are currently facing. Truss, a member of the conservative party attempted an array of deregulation and tax cuts which she claimed would resolve the cost of living crisis by spurring economic growth akin to that of the 1980’s. Of course, these tax cuts, which included lowering the top marginal tax rate from 45% to 40%, greatly benefited the wealthy in Britain without resolving the cost of living crisis. Upon passage of the tax cuts, the British pound plummeted to an exchange rate of 1:1.0697. The lowest exchange rate recorded. As a result, her approval rating collapsed to a record breaking low of 10% (according to Politico.) To make this general level of unpopularity even worse, Truss was not democratically elected. Instead she was chosen by conservative members only, to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This public reception paired with mounting pressure from her own conservative members of parliament led to her said resignation on Thursday.
While there was initial discussion of former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, (who himself resigned earlier this same year) being reinstated following Truss’s leave, Johnson ultimately pulled himself out of the conservative leadership race on Sunday making way for Johnson's former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to walk away with the premiership. In the United Kingdom the Chancellor of the Exchequer handles all financial matters and is considered to be the second most powerful in the British government. Sunak, as such was a presumed successor to Johnson, however, Sunak lost the leadership contest to Truss, despite overwhelming backing from Parliament.
Sunak represents the more conservative end of the conservative party. Paying lip service to the idea that those who “vilify Britain” should receive a legal punishment. Furthermore, Sunak has also further affirmed the UK’s position on its so-called Rwanda Policy, which would deport or redirect all those seeking asylum to the African nation of Rwanda, despite the policy being a potential human rights violation. Sunak has also stated his belief that Trans women should be barred from female sporting contests. A far more conservative position than that of others in his party. However, economically, Sunak is more of a mixed bag. Sunak has protested the tax cuts undertaken by Truss which, as previously stated, largely benefit the wealthy. Furthermore Sunak has voiced openness to raising the corporate tax rate, a long cry from Truss’s policies.
As the U.Ks first South Asian Prime Minister, Sunak will have many challenges ahead. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, which began the process of exiting the U.K from the European Union, 4 prime ministers have already been ousted. The country still faces all prior mentioned issues, which were in some ways made worse by Truss. In the polls, the conservative government is down as many as 33-36 points (YOUGOV) to Britain's labor party, the leading opposition. The Scottish are also demanding a referendum on independence, while many in Northern Ireland are calling for unification. All the while nearly more than half the country demands that an early election be called to oust the conservatives from power. Sunak walks a treacherous road, whether he will succeed in his leadership remains to be seen. Until then, we will continue to wonder, what is going on in the house of commons?
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