“To the country, I would first like to say I am sorry.” These were the words of Rishi Sunak as he left Downing Street for the last time. He said, “I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”
Sunak was addressing the nation outside Ten Downing Street with his wife Akshata Murthy before heading to the palace to resign as Britain’s prime minister. It was a brief and dignified address, dripping with humility and regret. The scale of Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party’s electoral defeat is truly remarkable. The party has lost two-thirds of its seats in parliament; there will be just over 120 Conservative MPs in the newly elected House of Commons of 650 members. This is the Conservative Party’s worst ever general election result.
Verdict: Failure
The final verdict on Rishi Sunak’s 20-month tenure is this: failure. He failed to achieve many of the political goals he publicly set out; he did not reduce waiting times for hospital treatment or stop illegal immigration. He failed to unite his party, which, after 14 years in power, had become increasingly feuding and factional. And he failed to convince voters that he had a vision for Britain’s future.
There were some successes. Rishi Sunak, a decent man, restored integrity to the prime ministership after the damage done by Boris Johnson’s bungling and deceit; he presided over a gradual recovery in the country’s economy; and he untangled some of the long-standing messes left by Britain’s exit from the EU.
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But his political acumen proved weak. He never gave the impression of fully holding power and was defeated by rivalries within his own party. His election campaign was notoriously inept. And his own reputation was tarnished by a bizarre decision to pull out early from global commemorations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a glorious moment in British history that turned the tide against Nazi Germany in World War II.
At times Rishi Sunak has faced political acrimony that some consider racist. Right-winger Nigel Farage – leader of Reform UK, an anti-immigration party that took millions of votes from the Conservatives – said during the campaign that Sunak’s D-Day decision was wrong because “he doesn’t understand our history and culture”. But Sunak’s lasting place in history is that he is the first black man to lead the UK government, and has demonstrated beyond doubt that race is no longer a barrier to getting to the top.
What changes happened under Starmer?
The Labour Party has won a landslide victory with the slogan ‘It’s time for change’. Its leader Keir Starmer – who is now Sunak’s successor as Prime Minister – will have a huge majority in Parliament.
But in reality, there are unlikely to be any immediate changes. Starmer has made clear that a Labour government will not raise taxes and there will be no change in foreign policy. The only immediate policy change is likely to be the abandonment of Sunak’s controversial and ill-considered plan to deport refugees to Rwanda in central Africa.
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Rishi Sunak has made it clear he will step down as Conservative Party leader, but not immediately. He will stay in the role until his successor is chosen. And he stressed the Conservatives need to provide ‘professional and effective’ opposition to a new Labour government – in what will be seen as a warning against the Conservatives lurching to the right after their crushing defeat.
Sunak, the former politician?
Sunak has said he will remain an MP and has denied suggestions that he plans to move to California, where the family home is. But his time in the highest echelons of British politics is almost over. There is hardly a way out for a defeated prime minister, and Sunak is so scarred by his tenure that it is unlikely he will want to return to top-level politics. At 44, he is young for a former prime minister, he is very clever, and he will not find life as a backbench MP very satisfying. So sooner or later, he will depart the political scene altogether and pursue a new career.
(Andrew Whitehead is an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham, UK, and a former BBC India and Politics correspondent.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal views of the author
