The Coronation of Rishi Sunak

Fairy tale were the words Rishi Sunak used to describe his opponent’s economic radicalism verging on libertarian chutzpah two months ago, when he was the underdog, but the smartest one in the field, fighting for the Conservative leadership after Boris Johnson’s fall. It was said that his resignation as Chancellor of Exchequer precipitated the fall. And the woman he struggled to defeat, Liz Truss, was said to be the proxy candidate of the fallen. Despite securing overwhelming parliamentary support, he failed to impress the party members, considered to be mostly Johnson fans.

Fairy tale played out more aptly on the day of Deepavali when Rishi Sunak, 42, a temple-going Hindu with Indian ancestry, became Britain’s 57^th prime minister, and the country’s first one of colour. A member of parliament for just seven years, and lastly seen in power as a highly rated Chancellor and a potential successor to the popular but recklessly rule-breaking Johnson, his rise to the top is the kind of fairy tale that makes politics an enchanted place for those who have the will to win—and ideas to match. To colour-code his victory is to minimise his achievement in a meritocratic democracy. Lately, it was fashionable for some conservatives to mock the expert. They have finally settled for one to clean up their mess.

Sunak, who counts integrity and professionalism as his governing qualities, exudes hope at a time when Britain has come to expect only irrational exuberance from a party that historically preferred measured steps to impulsive adventurism. Portraying himself as a unifier and a reconciler, he promises to “bring our party and country together.” As a realist who is not afraid to tell the unpleasant truth about tax cuts and inflation, he has already won the economic argument.

Will he win the political argument against the Labour Party, now soaring over the Tories in popular rating, in 2024? Three years ago, Johnson, a man abandoned by his party colleagues in the House of Commons and still loved by the grassroots, led the Conservatives to a resounding victory. In the end, the punishment handed out to him was severer than his crimes—instances of carelessness and casualness than career-ending transgressions. It’s the character, stupid! Today Britain’s natural party of governance is a divided house of bloodlust and suicidal instincts. An early election would have been the saner answer. It would have put the people above the Conservative MPs who ceased to represent popular sentiments.

After the shambolic brilliance of Johnson and the mediocrity of Truss, maybe what Britain needs today is the seriousness of a Sunak. In his own words, his family values were shaped by the best of Thatcherism—hard work and success. And in his back story, Thatcher’s grocery store is replaced by Sunak’s pharmacy counter. (We may even find a dash of Thatcherite ethos in the rise of his father-in-law Narayana Murthy too, a story the new prime minister is proud of.) If Sunak, always smarter with his prescriptions, can bring vintage Thatcherite resoluteness and ideological clarity to his proven credentials as an administrator, 2024 won’t be a foregone conclusion.

Boris JohnsonBritainIndianLiz TrussPrime MinisterRishi Sunak