On Oct. 20, Liz Truss became the fourth consecutive prime minister to resign from her post following the previous resignations of Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron. Just five days following her resignation, Rishi Sunak was elected by the Conservative members of the House of Commons to succeed Truss, making him the second prime minister removed from Boris Johnson’s electoral victory in 2019.
Following the shortest term for a prime minister of 45 days, Rishi Sunak is tasked with mending multiple issues regarding the Conservative Party and state of the United Kingdom itself. The party has had internal divisions in the past month over former Prime Minister Truss’ proposal to cut taxes by a total of 116 billion dollars. Now, they face a steep hill to climb in the polls as they lag behind the Labor Party by approximately thirty percentage points according to Politico’s Poll of Polls. If the election were held today, the Conservative Party would lose an estimated 317 seats, while Labor would hold a massive majority with 507 seats out of a total of 650 seats possible.
Outside of parliament, the UK is facing a cost-of-living crisis. Since Jan. 2021, the UK has suffered a dramatic increase in the proportion of those dealing with food insecurity. In particular, one in four households with children have been reported to be struggling with food insecurity; a fifteen percent increase from 2021. In addition to food, 83 percent of households were reported to have faced a price increase in electricity bills while 77 percent of households reported an increase in fuel prices. This has largely been driven by the UKs 10.1 percent inflation rate, while real wages have fallen by approximately three percent this past year.
In the face of multiple crises, Sunak has already endured significant criticism regarding his own personal wealth. Sunak’s wife has a 800 million dollar stake in her father’s outsourcing company, Ipfosys, which has had repeated violations of immigration and anti-discrimination laws. More concerning is the fact that since Sunak entered parliament, Ipfosys has made 120 million dollars in public contract deals with the British government, presenting the question of a conflict of interest if further deals are made while Sunak is prime minister.
Whether it’s poverty, parliament or the polls, Sunak will have many exceptionally difficult tasks ahead. Whether he conquers them will depend on his party’s cooperation and his ability to, unlike his predecessors, avoid successive scandals and missteps.
