No Truss In Tory

Syed Rifqi Najmuddin SAA

Occasionally writes and goes by Syed Wef. Enjoys the bitterness of politics. Loves the adrenaline of chasing a football. Wants to watch the Superclásico live and sail the Mediterranean.

An old saying goes, “a day in politics is a very long time”. I hope that Elizabeth Truss will find solace in that saying. Her 50 days in office is the shortest in British history and when history tells its tale, she will not be remembered well. Number 10 is now inhabited by Rishi Sunak, the first British-Asian to hold the position. Mr Sunak, who lost the Tory Party leadership race to Ms Truss the previous month, inherits an economy with stubborn inflationary pressure, a fractured Tory party, and a low approval rating in the polls.

The stability of the Tory party has been teetering since David Cameron lost the plebiscite in his campaign to ‘remain’ within the European Union. Mr Cameron viewed the plebiscite as a vote of confidence in his leadership; therefore, resigned citing that the United Kingdom needed a ‘new captain’ to steer them through the transition to Brexit (a portmanteau for ‘British Exit’). The first of many Tory leadership elections took place and Theresa May reigned triumphantly. Believing that she could form a majority government, she called for a snap election in 2017, which resulted in a hung parliament. The Tory party formed a minority government through a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), dubbed the Conservative-DUP agreement.

Theresa May knew the end was near when Sir Graham Brady, the chairperson of the 1922 Committee called for a meeting in late March 2019. Over the coming years, we would come to learn that Sir Brady is the only person in the United Kingdom who can ‘sack’ a prime minister—even the Queen, or now King, wields no such power. Theresa May was asked to leave by the Tory backbenchers and the Tory found themselves electing a new leader. Zealous Brexiteer and former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson was chosen to take the helm, riding the platform of ‘Get Brexit Done’ to victory.

Mr Johnson is a character. His disheveled hair, one-of-a-kind charm, and libertine way of life led to the biggest Tory majority since the 80s and a government plagued by scandals. Boris’ loyalists will argue that he was the best British Prime Minister in the past decade. He delivered Brexit, oversaw the fastest vaccine administering programme in the world (as they would claim), and stood by Ukraine in its darkest hour. They would divert attention away from the deadly herd immunity policy at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dominic Cummings saga, the Downing Street refurbishment fiasco, the endless parties held at his residence which violated COVID-19 lockdowns, and the nail in the coffin, the fact he knew about allegations of sexual misconduct against Chris Pincher and decided to do nothing until the story broke. Sir Brady met Boris Johnson and he was shown the door. Another Tory party leadership election followed. Ms Truss took the helm and the rest is history.

Ms Truss came into power without a real plan in mind. She won the race as the Tory party members felt that Mr Sunak had backstabbed Mr Johnson, leading to the latter’s eventual resignation. There is no denying that Mr Johnson is still extremely influential in the party. In putting her cabinet, Ms Truss paid her debts to her biggest supporters. Thérèse Coffey was made Deputy Prime Minister and Kwasi Kwarteng moved into Number 11. The Chancellor along with the British Premier promised unfunded tax cuts, arguing that it would lead to growth that will eventually trickle down to all classes in society. It is the classic economic libertarian argument, one that has been disproven time and again. After tabling a mini-budget that sealed the fate of Ms Truss’ premiership, Mr Kwarteng found himself axed by said Prime Minister in the morning. Not long after, Sir Brady showed her the door. Ms Truss first started her political career in the late 1990s; it took her three decades to reach the pinnacle of British politics and it all came crashing down in just over a month. The fact remains, she was never a prime ministerial candidate. She is the worst thing one can be in politics: lackluster. Her rise to power was largely attributed to Mr Johnson’s scandals and illegal parties. When she occupied Number 10, she put an end to all the parties, and quite possibly even the Tory Party.

Mr Sunak, who is now on the throne of British politics, is the youngest person to assume the role in 200 years. He is the epitome of a Tory Party product: Oxford-educated, worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, the richest MP, and the son-in-law of an aristocratic Indian billionaire. He may be Indian by name but do not be mistaken — he is Tory by blood and ideology.

Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour party are knocking on Mr Sunak’s door claiming that he has no mandate. The mandate, they argue, belongs to Mr Johnson. However, Sir Starmer knows that is untrue; in a Westminster system, the mandate belongs to the party, not any particular individual. Nevertheless, that will not stop Sir Starmer and the Labour party from demanding that a snap election be held, leaving Mr Sunak now in the thick of it. He stares down the barrel of economic peril as he tries to keep the house of cards, that is the Tory party, together. The world of politics is never certain but Mr Sunak must realise, he can’t quite possibly do worse than Ms Truss.

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No Truss In Tory

Syed Rifqi Najmuddin SAA

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