A new day... a new Prime Minister
- R.M. Jones
- Nov 3, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 14, 2022
Politics news w/c 24th October 2022
It's been a busy week in Westminster. But don’t worry, I’ll fill you in.
After Liz Truss announced that she would be resigning as leader of the conservative party last Thursday a second leadership race was ignited. The front runners this time being Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and none other than Boris Johnson.
In order for candidates to make it through to the next round they had to meet a threshold of 100 nominations from fellow Conservative MPs. On Sunday speculation rose that both Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson had reached the threshold to continue to the next round of the contest, however late on Sunday evening, Boris withdrew from the contest saying it was impossible to govern a divided party and that MPs should unite behind one candidate. Minutes before the nominations closed at 2pm on Monday, Penny Mordaunt also withdrew from the leadership contest saying “Rishi has my full support”.
On Monday afternoon Rishi Sunak was announced as the new leader of the Conservative party and therefore will become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - the third in three months.
On Tuesday after accepting an invitation from King Charles to form a Government in his name, Sunak returned to Downing Street as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
On the steps of Number 10 he made his first address to the public. The tone of his speech was a contrast to what we have seen in recent times, this time reflecting the seriousness of the economic situation our country finds itself. The PM praised Liz Truss, his predecessor, but acknowledged that mistakes had been made and said that the work to fix them mistakes begins now.
Sunak said “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of government” but admitted that difficult decisions will have to be made. Knowing that one of the challenges facing his tenure would be whether or not he had a democratic mandate, Sunak reiterated that he will deliver the manifesto in which the Conservatives were elected on in 2019; focusing on strengthening the NHS, better schools, safer streets, controlling our boarders, protecting our armed forces and building the economy.
Following Sunak’s speech outside of Number 10, it was behind closed doors that the clear out began with several resignations, including that of die-hard Boris backer, Jacob Reese-Mogg.
The cabinet appointments came thick and fast throughout the afternoon with Sunak appointing:
Jeremy Hunt | Chancellor |
James Cleverly | Foreign Secretary |
Dominic Raab | Deputy Prime Minister/Justice Secretary |
Ben Wallace | Defence Secretary |
Suella Braverman | Home Secretary |
The cabinet reshuffle also saw experienced MPs such as Grant Shapps, Oliver Dowden, Michael Gove, Steve Barclay, Therese Coffey and John Glen return to Government. The cabinet reaches out to all factions of the Conservative party and shows a desire for continuity, stability and unity.
Despite reaching across the political party, it appears Rishi Sunak’s first controversial decision as Prime Minister was to re appoint Suella Braverman as home secretary – less than a week after she was forced to resign for breaching the ministerial code and supposedly being dishonest about it. In his speech before the Government appointments, Sunak said that he aims to be a compassionate Government "[that] will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at all levels”. So it is surprising that he has appointed Braverman after leaking sensitive information from her personal phone.
Wednesday brought the first opportunity for Sunak to face the opposition parties in Prime Ministers Questions. However, before PMQs the chancellor announced that the fiscal statement, due to be on October 31st had been delayed until 17thNovember claiming that the markets had steadied since the appointment of Hunt as Chancellor and therefore, they have more time to really look over and consider the difficult decisions that need to be made.
As Sunak and Starmer went head to head in PMQs, Sunak was confident and fluent at the dispatch box but faced some killer questions and criticisms from Starmer and the leader of the SNP around Braverman’s re-appointment. In response to these questions Sunak said that Braverman had made an “error of judgement” and “accepted her mistake”. Both men bought their A game and had several fiery exchanges mostly surrounding the appointment of Braverman and questions around the legitimacy of Sunak’s premiership.
It was a strong first PMQs from Rishi Sunak who will definitely be facing more questions around his cabinet appointments and the fiscal statement delay. However, the opening days of his premiership appear to be prioritising the economic stability of the country and unity of the conservative party. It is clear that Rishi Sunak faces a very challenging In Tray but as he said in his speech on Tuesday he is not “daunted” by the great office that he now holds.
The next few days and weeks will be challenging for both the government and the general public but will no doubt be eventful but do not worry I will watch the news and keep updated so you don’t have too!
(source for all information included in this blog is from sky news)
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