In Great Britain it is considered certain that British Prime Minister Liz Truss will be replaced sooner or later. Discussions now revolve around the man or woman who should follow her. A reputable maker would be a good recommendation.
Once derided as Biedermeier, today highly regarded as a wise statesman: Former British Prime Minister John Major is an example of what the country now needs at the top.
Liz Truss still resides at Downing Street as Prime Minister, but she no longer really runs the country. Her Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, whom she brought to her own rescue on Friday, has taken on this task with his announcements. No one in the UK doubts that Prime Minister Liz Truss is history after six weeks in office. The only thing that remains to be seen is how quickly the Conservative Party will bring about its replacement and a successor plan. Now that dependable troubleshooter Hunt has taken over, that question doesn’t rush.
What the next prime minister is supposed to do – no more miracles
More important than individual names, which are now being weighed up in excited circles in the conservative parliamentary group, would be the question of what kind of head of government the country now needs and what priorities he should set. A look at history can give some indications. The disruptive reformer Margaret Thatcher, who so much took Liz Truss as a role model, was followed in 1990 by the pale conservative John Major, who unexpectedly won another election for the Tories and governed much more successfully and longer than the party and the public gave him credit for had. Today he is highly revered as the voice of reason.
Major was followed in 1997 by left-liberal visionary Tony Blair. It triggered storms of enthusiasm far beyond the national borders and a cultural and social upswing in the country, but its successes were based on a financial illusion that burst in 2008 during the financial crisis. A decade of stabilization, sobriety and austerity followed under the unimaginative administrator David Cameron and his hapless successor Theresa May. After this economically successful dry spell that was politically dry apart from Brexit, the Tories threw themselves first at the dazzling bon vivant Boris Johnson and then libertarian revolutionary Liz Truss, while Labor was seduced by the state-socialist fantasies of gruff old-left Jeremy Corbyn. All three were able to inspire a loyal following, all three failed terrifically.
Britain has been through enough of the experiments. What is now needed is what is commonly described as good governance and is recommended above all to developing countries. The United Nations, for example, uses the following terms to describe good governance: transparency, accountability, accountability, participation and the ability to respond to the needs of the population. Accountability and accountability suffered under Johnson, while Truss lacked transparency and alignment with the needs of the country. Both led to chaos, both were quickly ended by the well-functioning political institutions.
Labor is already setting the right course
The time of seductive visions is over. Labor was the first to notice after the painful 2019 election defeat. The party elected the lawyer Keir Starmer as its leader, a bone-dry but top-serious politician who clinically dissected Johnson’s fantastic fabrications of lies and subterfuges and yet is not loved by journalists and the public because of his boring performance. The Tories are now following their ever-friendly man without qualities, multi-role Minister Jeremy Hunt, as he confidently leads the country into calmer waters in the wake of the Truss storm. Hunt doesn’t take anyone with him either. But you can rely on him.
The country now needs an experienced leader like Hunt, the ambitious former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak or, in the case of new elections, perhaps Starmer, who is no showman and no visionary, but who understands the craft of government business and uses it in daily, conscientious work is willing. A head of government who takes on the real problems of the country: the extreme centralization of the state, the over-regulation after almost five decades of EU membership, the weak development of productivity in the economy, the often poor performance of public schools, the high despite a considerable tax burden Inequality with all its social problems, the mediocre infrastructure, the overwhelmed state health system. This requires a lot of work and may be boring. But it works.