Rishi Sunak wants to pursue an economic policy like Margaret Thatcher.
Rishi Sunak, 42, former Minister of Finance
Sunak has been a member of the British Parliament since 2015 and has made a quick career within the party. He was appointed Minister of Finance in Boris Johnson’s government in 2020 and was long considered one of Johnson’s loyal supporters. But in the end, it was he who, together with the then Minister of Health Sajid Javid, set in motion the wave of defections from the government that led to Johnson’s fall.
Sunak was born in the Southamptons in the south of England. His parents are originally from India and emigrated to England in the 1960s.
Sunak first studied at Oxford and then at Stanford in the United States, where he met his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian IT billionaire. Sunak and his wife are among the richest people in Britain. In April, Sunak’s wife was accused of withholding wealth abroad and thus avoiding paying taxes.
Sunak has been convicted of violating restrictions during the pandemic after celebrating Boris Johnson’s birthday on Downing Street in June 2020.
Sunak was in favor of Brexit, which he claimed would make the country “freer, more equal and more prosperous.” He also believed that Britain would leave the EU to, as he said, gain control over migration.
When Sunak launched his campaign to become the leader of the Conservative Party, he said he would pursue an economic policy like Margaret Thatcher. But unlike his party comrades, he does not want to cut taxes until public finances are under control.
– We will reduce taxes and we will do it responsibly. That’s my financial approach. “I would describe it as sensible thatcherism,” he told The Telegraph.
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Liz Truss promises that she will implement the biggest economic reform in 30 years if she is elected.
Liz Truss, 47, Foreign Minister
Truss has held several senior roles in conservative governments, including as Minister of Justice, Minister of the Environment and Government responsible for women’s issues and gender equality, before becoming Britain’s second female Foreign Secretary in 2021.
Truss was born in Oxford and has described her parents as left-wing sympathizers, unlike the policies she herself pursues.
As an Oxford student, she was active in school politics for the Liberal Democratic Party, but she soon switched to the Conservative Party.
Unlike Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, Liz Truss belonged to the camp that wanted Britain to remain a member of the EU. She changed her mind after the referendum on the issue, saying that Brexit was an opportunity to shake up “how things work”.
In the campaign to become the UK’s next prime minister in practice, she has, among other things, promised to implement the largest economic reform in 30 years, which largely consists of tax cuts in several places.
Among her achievements as Foreign Minister are the release of two British-Iranian citizens who were detained in Iran, and a series of harsh sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Truss has become popular within the party for his outspokenness, but has also been criticized for controversial statements. In February, for example, she called on Britons to fight in Ukraine. Other critics say that Truss, who has always stood by Boris Johnson’s side, can not give the Tory party the restart that many party comrades believe it needs to win the next election.