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1 of 3 Photo: Peter Morrison/AP/TT
A strong speaker or a more polished politician? For the first time in the country’s history, a dark-skinned leader or the third woman in office?
Britain’s Tory MPs have faced an unusual choice. But everything indicates that the party’s winner, and the country’s new prime minister, is called Liz Truss.
There are two quite different politicians who have been pitted against each other in the fight to succeed the outgoing Boris “Bojo” Johnson in the residence at 10 Downing Street in London.
42-year-old Rishi Sunak, who has Indian roots, was the clear favorite when Conservative MPs voted for the two candidates that party members are now voting on. But since then he has had headwinds. His resignation as Chancellor of the Exchequer on July 5, in protest at a series of scandals surrounding Johnson, is seen in part as a betrayal because it became a major factor in the Prime Minister’s downfall.
Fragile economy
Sunak is usually described as a better speaker than rival Truss. But what he spoke about over the summer has not gone down well with the often pro-Brexit, older Conservative Tory members who are voting in the leadership election. The economy has been a dominant theme, and one of Sunak’s messages has been that it is so fragile that it is not possible to cut taxes now.
In doing so, he has left the target open for Truss’s classic right-wing message, that the crisis should be met with people getting more in their wallets through lower taxes.
– She is a better politician, says John Curtice, political scientist at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, to the AFP news agency.
– If you ask what Liz Truss’s campaign was about, the answer is immediate: Lower taxes, not increased benefits. Crystal clear.
– Sunak has no such password, nothing.
Changed parties
If Truss has been clear in this summer’s campaign, she will, on the other hand, continue to hear about past “sins”, which have caused critics to brand her as a weathervane. She grew up in a social democratic family and when her political interest was awakened during her studies at Oxford in the 1990s, she became an active and enthusiastic member of the Liberal Democrats. It was only in connection with his graduation in 1996 that the then roughly 20-year-old Truss took the step to the right to the Conservative Party (Tories).
Among other things, she worked for the oil giant Shell, which helped her when Prime Minister David Cameron later took her under his wing and gave Truss the environment portfolio. Before the referendum that Cameron organized in 2016, she campaigned for continued EU membership – only to switch to the Brexit side after the “no” result.
– I do not want my daughters to grow up in a world where they need a visa or permit to work in Europe, she said before the referendum.
For Ukraine
But nowadays Truss refers to the fact that the “doomsday scenarios” about life outside the EU did not come true. As a close associate of Johnson, Truss has added to his track record by leading the work on the new free trade agreements that were required after Brexit with Japan and other countries.
The 47-year-old’s shares have also been strengthened by her adopting Boris Johnson’s tough line against Russia and for Ukraine. And perhaps her style has drawn comparisons with the legendary Margaret Thatcher, the Tory prime minister who ruled Great Britain from 1979-1990.
According to consensus polls, Truss has a solid lead over Sunak among the up to 200,000 Tory members who have voted in the leadership election in recent weeks. So when the winner is announced on Monday, few doubt that her name will be read out.
Long to choose
However, the often white, older and relatively wealthy party members are a small and not entirely representative part of the UK population. Political scientists are already raising questions about whether Liz Truss in the battle for the hearts of the party has burned bridges to the people at large. For example, many thought she was a bit too much of a Brexit hawk when she recently refused to answer whether French President Emmanuel Macron is “friend or foe”.
But Truss hopes to have a few years to work on wider public opinion after taking office as prime minister, which will take place as early as Tuesday. The next election does not have to be held until early 2025.
Facts
The candidates
Liz Truss, 47, Foreign Secretary:
Popular among conservative voters in the country. Has modeled its image after former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
As foreign minister, she has been at the center of Britain’s support for Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia.
Was born in Oxford as the daughter of a mathematics professor and a nurse. Is married to Hugh O’Leary with whom she has two teenage daughters.
If Truss wins, she will become Britain’s third woman prime minister.
Rishi Sunak, 42, former finance minister:
Has been in parliament since 2015 and has made a rapid career within the party. In 2020, he was appointed finance minister in Boris Johnson’s government.
It was Sunak who, together with former health secretary Sajid Javid, set in motion the wave of defections from Johnson’s government that later led to his downfall.
Was born in Southampton in the south of England. His family is from India and came to England in the 1960s.
Sunak is one of Britain’s richest people along with his wife Akshata Murty, who is the daughter of an Indian billionaire. The couple has two daughters.
Sources: AP, BBC
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