Rishi Sunak: one dimensional politics
On 25th October Rishi Sunak became the first person of Asian heritage to become Prime Minister. However as Marcus Ryder pointed out in the Guardian there is no such thing as trickle down diversity any more than there is trickle-down economics.
Sunak is the richest MP in the Commons and while he is not an Old Etonian he went to Winchester an alternative route to the ruling class.
An important issue is the one-dimensional politics of Sunak’s arrival at No.10. He lost an election for Tory leader in the summer to Liz Truss. When she resigned as PM he stood again but this time was elected by no one but appointed by the 1922 Committee. No British Prime Minister has been elected at a General Election and subsequently lost one since Ted Heath (1970-74) so the process, unsatisfactory though it is, is not new.
However Sunak plans to implement a further period of unnecessary austerity and spending cuts. For this he has no conceivable mandate. It is not the programme Johnson was elected on in December 2019.
Keir Starmer has called for a General Election. When Sunak unveiled his five pledges on 4th January he claimed he was addressing the people’s priorities. For many beset by a cost of living crisis and an incompetent Government the priority is an Election not in late 2024 but now.
The one-dimensional politics that has put the few before the many since 2010 has to end.
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