There is little to celebrate for Rishi Sunak after a year in office as British Prime Minister. New elections are coming soon in Great Britain and in polls Sunak and his conservative Tories are lagging behind the left-wing Labor Party. London-based journalist Peter Stäuber knows more about the problems Sunak has been struggling with since taking office.
SRF News: How has Rishi Sunak coped with his job as Prime Minister so far?
Peter Stäuber: His term in office was not particularly happy. He does have some successes – such as improving relations with the EU after Brexit or making politics in Downing Street a little less chaotic.
Sunak leaves a rather weak impression.
However, Sunak is causing little enthusiasm among the population. His approval ratings are rather poor and he seems to have no idea how he could bring the country into shape. Overall, it leaves a rather weak impression.
According to polls, Sunak’s Tories are clearly behind Labor. Why can’t Sunak and his party convince voters?
A conservative government has been in power in Great Britain since 2010 – and there are now problems and crises everywhere in the country: in the national health service NHS, in public transport, in infrastructure, in public service, there is a housing shortage, and there is also because of the Brexit’s acute staff shortages in areas such as agriculture and catering.
People blame the Tory policies of the past 13 years for the ills in the country.
More and more people are blaming the Tory policies of the past 13 years for the many grievances. This also reflects on Sunak – even though he has only been in office for a year.
Legend:
The representative surveys among British voters show that favorability for the Tories has fallen again slightly since Sunak took office on October 25, 2022. However, the gap to Labor is smaller than it was last March.
ipsos
Why is it difficult for Sunak to convince Tory voters of himself?
Sunak doesn’t like engaging with voters. Unlike his predecessor Boris Johnson, he lacks charisma. Sunak is rather dry in his dealings. He also sometimes seems annoyed when he is confronted by the media or has to face difficult questions.
Sunak is the richest prime minister to ever govern Britain.
In addition, he leads a government that is generally unpopular with the people. Above all, Sunak seems a bit aloof – he comes from a rich family and is the richest prime minister to ever rule Great Britain. Especially in bad times like now, many voters have the feeling that such a prime minister does not understand their everyday problems.
Can Sunak still turn things around by the next election date – early 2025 at the latest?
There have been some surprises in British politics in recent years – so it is difficult to make a valid statement today. But at the moment it hardly looks like Sunak will be able to do it. His party conference speech at the beginning of October should have been a fresh start: he presented himself as a leader of change and tried to bring some momentum to his term in office.
There is something of a Titanic mood among Tory MPs.
But the replacement elections held shortly afterwards, which the Tories lost, show that this clearly did not work. Something very drastic would have to happen for the conservatives to be able to work their way out of their hole. In addition, we hear from within the Tory Party that the mood among MPs is extremely bad and hardly anyone believes in an election victory anymore. There’s something like a Titanic atmosphere.
The interview was conducted by Marc Allemann.