Commentary
If you ever thought British politics was boring, the Tory government’s recent trials and tribulations may have put that feeling permanently to rest.
When the Boris Johnson-led Tories
won a huge majority in Dec. 2019, it seemed like a euphoric moment for the party and movement. It was the party’s biggest margin of victory since the days of Margaret Thatcher. This electoral triumph was aided by Johnson’s ability to unite British Conservatives, and use non-ideological, populist policies to build strength in non-traditional Tory areas.
Alas, it came to a shrieking halt just halfway through the mandate.
Johnson faced economic controversies early on, including costly relief packages during COVID-19, long-term concerns with Brexit’s viability and a looming fuel supply crisis. Those paled in comparison when the PM defied his own COVID-19 health restrictions related to large indoor social gatherings. This was the episode known as “
Partygate,” in which 30 people celebrated his birthday during the first lockdown in 2020 when the rest of the nation couldn’t. He became the first British PM to
receive a fine (£50) from London’s Metropolitan Police for breaking the law.
Johnson survived a vote of no-confidence in early June with 59 percent support of the Tory caucus. That respite was decimated just weeks later after two men accused then-Deputy Whip Chris Pincher of sexual assault. Several Tory cabinet ministers claimed the PM had no knowledge of previous allegations of sexual misconduct against Pincher between 2019-2020. When the BBC proved this to be a complete falsehood, Johnson came clean and
acknowledged it was a mistake to have ignored this warning.
He tried to save his leadership, but the damage was done. He announced his impending resignation on July 7, but would stay on until a successor was chosen.
This led to a leadership race between eight leading Tory MPs and cabinet ministers. Former foreign secretary Liz Truss
beat former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak in the members’ vote by 57 percent–43 percent on Sept. 6.
Truss’s tenure as prime minister was an immediate train wreck, however.
She announced an Energy Price Guarantee to create a two-year £2,500 household cap at an estimated cost of £100 billion, which infuriated many Britons. Her Sept. 23 mini-budget, which announced planned cuts to the base income tax rate and stamp duty, eliminating tax increases on corporate taxes and abolishing the 45 percent top income tax rate, caused an eruption in the United Kingdom.
Truss’s energy cap and mini-budget were both poorly received, the latter of which she didn’t even bother to
consult with the Bank of England. Tory cabinet ministers started to resign. She
directed Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng to reverse course on the top income tax rate cut, then the corporate tax cut, and ultimately fired him. His replacement, Jeremy Hunt, attempted to reverse course on most of the mini-budget proposals and reduced the Energy Price Guarantee to six months.
It was too late. Britons of all political stripes had turned against Truss in near-unison. Her political radar was wonky, her economic judgment was uninformed, and her leadership skills were just plain lousy. They wanted her gone, and many Tory MPs agreed.
Truss
resigned after only 45 days on the job. It’s the shortest recognized tenure as Prime Minister in British history. Even a head of iceberg lettuce that the Daily Star, a tabloid newspaper, had started to livestream on Oct. 14 as a joke to see which would last longer, was
victorious over the embattled and embarrassed national leader.
Which brings us to the current Tory leadership race. There were two confirmed candidates, Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, the former House of Commons leader who finished third to Truss. After Mordaunt decided to pull out of the race on Oct. 24, it opened the way for Sunak to become the UK’s next prime minister.
For a brief spell, it looked like Johnson was going to attempt a political comeback for the ages. He was rumoured to have the support of 59 MPs, although his supporters
claimed he’d reached or surpassed the threshold.
In the end, Johnson
announced in an Oct. 23 statement that he wouldn’t be a leadership candidate. Although he claimed to have “cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations,” he also felt “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.” Hence, he likely sensed his leadership bid would cause Tory MPs to leave the party—and help bring down the majority government he had built.
Can Sunak keep the frustrated, irritated, and discombobulated Tory family together? Will the British people regain their trust in a Tory government that keeps self-destructing in spite of a significant political mandate?
Time will tell. Whatever happens, it won’t be dull.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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