Do Sunak & The Tories Have Nowhere To Go But Up?

Conservative MPs have closed ranks around Rishi Sunak to succeed Liz Truss as U.K. Prime Minister. The road for Sunak was cleared when Boris Johnson decided against a political comeback yesterday and Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the race. Sunak will be sworn into office tomorrow morning by King Charles III. Of course, it was only last month that Sunak finished second in the Conservative Party leadership race to Truss only for Truss to resign just over six weeks on the job after a catastrophic reign in office. 

Between the ethical lapses of Johnson and the sheer incompetence of Truss, do the Tories have nowhere to go but up under Sunak? It was Sunak who pointed out the irresponsibility of Truss' economic plans. In their debate back in July, Sunak stated, "Liz, we have to be honest. Borrowing your way out of inflation isn’t a plan, it’s a fairytale." With what soon followed, Sunak's statements turned out not to be empty rhetoric.

While Sunak might have some measure of goodwill, he will still have a short leash. Spending cuts and austerity are likely to be order of the day and there's a good chance such measures will be taken out on the people who can least afford it. Should this come to pass, Sunak's enormous wealth will surely be unfavorably highlighted. It will be incumbent upon Sunak to demonstrate noblesse oblige when implementing his government's fiscal policy. Governing with competence and compassion could go a long way with voters. Yet it is entirely possible the Tories will have more favorable polling numbers under Sunak, but it might not be enough to overcome a British public tired of a Tory government which has been in office since 2010. 

It is worth noting that Sunak becomes the first person of color and first Hindu to hold this office. The question remains if his fellow Tories would hold that against him. Had the vote been held among the Conservative membership between Sunak and Johnson or Sunak and Mordaunt would he have lost yet again? While racism has reared its ugly head from time to time, for his part, Sunak dismissed the idea that racism worked against him while campaigning for the leadership this past summer.

Whatever the case, Sunak will soon at the dispatch box in the House of Commons face to face with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. It will be interesting to see if Sunak can raise the bar and if it does how high he can raise it.