No matter what topic British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to talk about, all of his attempts are currently in vain. The scandalous past of his predecessor Boris Johnson sets the tone in London. This puts Sunak under increasing pressure in his own party.
Eight months after taking office, Boris Johnson faced a major challenge: the start of the corona pandemic. The current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is also struggling with problems eight months after taking office: the legacies of his scandal-ridden predecessor.
Sunak was confronted this weekend with a new “Partygate” video showing staff from his Conservative party dancing, drinking and joking about violating lockdowns during the coronavirus lockdown. The 43-year-old, who promised a government of “integrity, professionalism and accountability” in October last year, is unable to shake off the scandal.
It doesn’t help that just seven MPs voted against accepting a scathing report by a committee on the Downing Street “Partygate” scandal and against the withdrawal of Johnson’s parliamentary pass on Monday night in the House of Commons. “A lot of Tories haven’t forgiven him but the fact that he stays in their minds is a problem,” an MP told the UK “Guardians” according to. “You don’t mention Sunak.”
“Can’t sell a vision if Rishi doesn’t have one”
This is a problem for Sunak. Instead of getting attention for his topics and putting them in the public eye, he just can’t get rid of the headlines about his predecessor’s antics. Worse still: According to a Yougov poll, despite all the lies, Johnson is still more popular with conservative voters than Sunak, even though they said in the same poll that they actually no longer want anything to do with the ex-prime minister.
Meanwhile, Sunak is coming under political pressure from the attention his predecessor continues to receive. Many Tories seem to think the Johnson drama won’t stop until Sunak gets creative and can “think up a concept”. A former cabinet minister told the Guardian: “We cannot sell the public a vision unless Rishi has one himself.” He has to think big, be creative and formulate a dream that the public wants to live by and ultimately vote for.
Another said it is not enough for Sunak to repeatedly lay out his five missions, which “mean nothing” to a public suffering from the skyrocketing cost of living. In addition, one of Sunak’s key campaign promises, namely to drastically reduce immigration, has already failed. New figures show that more than 10,000 people have already crossed the English Channel in small boats this year.
Sunak lacks leadership
With a view to the parliamentary elections planned for 2024, Sunak still has a lot of work to do. Johnson had recently repeatedly made it clear that he did not consider his political career to be over and would like to return to the next election. He also wants to improve his relationship with Sunak and support him in the elections, a close confidant of the former prime minister says “time” according to know.
However, Sunak allies believe Johnson is no longer an aid and his supporters in the Commons are down to a handful of die-hard loyalists. Nevertheless, Sunak also relies on de-escalation in his relationship with Johnson. On Monday evening he stayed away from the vote in the House of Commons on the report on the “Partygate” affair and abstained. The opposition immediately accused the prime minister of weak leadership.
For both sides, the apparent outbreak of peace is primarily a question of political expediency. However, Sunak will not be able to avoid confrontation with his ex-boss for much longer: the prime minister must choose a side in the Johnson case and “show leadership,” said Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer before the vote on Monday.
But Sunak couldn’t bring himself to publicly criticize Johnson. That could still fall on the incumbent’s feet. Not without reason the “Guardian” commented this week: “Johnson’s legacy haunts Sunak.”