Trouble at Downing Street: Is Rishi Being Shown the Door?

Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is in trouble, and there are many reasons that things might get worse before they get better for them. Here’s a few. 

The Kingdom Formerly Known as United

The United Kingdom is having a bad time. Not just recently, but over the last two decades, things on the island nation off the tip of Europe have been taking a turn for the worst, and it’s happening every time they turn around. 

The country has the dubious distinction of having had five prime ministers since 2016, a turnover rate comparable with some of the fast food jobs most of us had in high school.

Since the Brexit referendum, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss, the latter however briefly, have all tried to right the ship of state as it appears to be floundering on the rocks. 

The latest Prime Minister is Rishi Sunak and he’s got a lot of work to do, as this year is an election year. However, rather than turning things around, things for Rishi Sunak seem to be going from bad to worse.

Here are six reasons why things in the future might not look so rosy for Rishi.

Cost of Living Crisis

The UK is currently experiencing a cost of living crisis, which has not been seen in decades. The cost of everything keeps going up, wages are stagnant, and, after Brexit, British businesses are suffering; now, they have to compete with Europe instead of supplying it. 

This has led to a prolonged squeeze on living standards, with all the associated civil disputes that brings, strikes for better wages, strikes for better working conditions and strikes to try to prevent jobs being outsourced or replaced by inefficient and unworkable AI. 

A recent report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has shown that an astounding 1 in 5 people in the UK lived in poverty, a subject on which Rishi Sunak’s government seems to have few answers or ideas. 

All this simmering resentment, the only thing keeping some people warm with energy prices as high as they are, does not signal good news for Sunak’s Conservative government. 

Stubbornly High Inflation

Rishi Sunak’s government took over with a pledge to half inflation, which at its highest point in the UK was hovering around 10.7% in the three months between October and December 2022. 

Technically, Sunak has accomplished this, with inflation down to 4.2% for the same period of 2023. However, there is a fly in the ointment, as many economists point out that inflation was going down anyway, so Sunak cannot take credit for this reduction. 

Paul Johnson, the director of the IFS, a prominent economics think tank, emphasised, “The responsibility for reducing inflation lies with the Bank of England, not the government. Therefore, it was never suitable for the government to set a target or pledge to halve inflation.” 

Despite the reduction in inflation, many in the UK are still feeling the pinch when it comes to their finances, and pointing at some numbers on a chart that you can’t take credit for anyway doesn’t really seem a good way of winning people over. Sorry, Rishi. 

Rwanda and Immigration 

The UK is one of those countries with a funny view of its history. During the last few centuries, we invaded, waged war, colonised, and plundered many countries around the world. 

However, in the modern age, when people from those countries the UK destabilised come to the UK looking for a better life, a lot of British people bloody well don’t like it. 

Fear not, as Rishi Sunak has a plan – he will send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Unfortunately, Rishi can’t take credit for the idea, as it was the brainchild of his predecessor, Boris Johnson, a man not known for thinking things through. 

Even more unfortunately, the plan is ever so slightly illegal under international law and is having a torturous time going through the British Parliament and House of Lords. Rishi Sunak has bet his political life on getting this piece of legislation through, and if it fails, a win for human rights will be a bitterly sore loss for Sunak. 

Party Split

The Conservative Party, of which Sunak is the leader, is a fractious old bunch. In the last ten years, they’ve deposed three leaders and had one walk off after declaring them, and the country, basically ungovernable. 

After Brexit, these slight cracks have become the cavernous chasms of party disunity. Barely able to hold it all together, Sunak faces rebellions from both sides of his party every time any issue is voted on, with MPs frequently speaking out against whatever decision Sunak has made, leading to political paralysis. 

Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” and Rishi Sunak’s Tory Party seems to be proof of that. It’s unfortunate for him that in political history, divided parties have rarely won elections. Which brings us to…

Polling in the Toilet

The real nail in the coffin of Rishi Sunak’s political future is his party’s polling. With all the issues mentioned previously, it is unsurprising that the Tory Party’s polling numbers are abysmal. 

The latest YouGov poll, the most detailed of any such polling in the last five years, points to an absolute wipeout for the Conservatives in the election later this year. Sunak’s party does not take defeat well; when they lose, the first person to go is usually their leader. 

Needs Some Luck

With this political Sword of Damocles hanging over his head and little that he seems able to do about it, only time will tell how long Sunak has left as Prime Minister of the UK.

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The post Trouble at Downing Street: Is Rishi Being Shown the Door?  first appeared on Edge Media.

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