London, May 23: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has portrayed himself as thorough and evidence-led. That’s why his gamble to call a UK general election for July 4 has come as such a surprise.
Those personal traits were supposed to be attributes that would endear him to British voters following the chaos of his two predecessors in the top job, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
But if opinion polls ahead of the election prove right, he hasn’t shifted the dial much, if at all. The main opposition Labour Party is widely seen to be ahead of the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.
Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, when he replaced his predecessor Truss and pitched himself as a stable pair of hands after Truss roiled financial markets with a botched plan of unfunded tax cuts.
Sunak had warned Conservative Party members that her economic plan was reckless and would cause havoc. He proved right.
On replacing her after an uncontested leadership battle, Sunak became Britain’s first leader of colour, the first Hindu to become prime minister – and at 42, the youngest leader for more than 200 years.
Sunak, now 44, has enjoyed a rapid rise to the top within Conservative ranks. He was plucked from seemingly nowhere four years ago to become Treasury chief on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic.
Within weeks, he had to unveil the biggest economic support package any Chancellor of the Exchequer has ever had to outside wartime.
Smooth, confident and at ease with the march of modern technology, he was dubbed “Dishy Rishi” and quickly became one of the most trusted and popular faces within Johnson’s government. That was largely thanks to his job retention program, which paid up to 80% of the wages of those who couldn’t work during the COVID-19 lockdown, arguably saving millions of jobs.
Sunak notably highlighted his record during the pandemic, before which he was barely known outside of the Houses of Parliament, in his address to the nation on Wednesday as he announced the date of the general election. “As I stand here as your prime minister, I can’t help but reflect that my first proper introduction to you was just over four years ago,” Sunak said in pouring rain outside No. 10 Downing Street.
“As I did then, I will forever do everything in my power to provide you with the strongest possible protection I can – that is my promise to you,” he added. (AP)
