Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Yu Siyi
Sunak became the third prime minister in the UK this year.
At 9 pm on October 24, Beijing time, according to the rules, former British Chancellor Rishi Sunak is the only candidate to cross the 100th threshold. He has won the support of 193 Conservative MPs and will replace Elizabeth Trass , who resigned in just 45 days, and serve as British Prime Minister . He will be the first Indian Prime Minister in British history and the youngest Prime Minister in nearly 200 years.
According to Reuters , Sunak spoke out for the first time on social media Twitter on the 23rd, saying that he was preparing to run for the election to replace Tras as prime minister.
"The UK is a great country but is facing a serious economic crisis," Sunak wrote on Twitter. "That's why I want to be the leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister."
and former British Prime Minister Johnson , who is regarded as Sunak's biggest potential competitor, announced his withdrawal from the election on the 23rd local time.
"Although he is an Indian, there is no more competitive candidate than him, so even if the Conservative Party members abstain from the vote, they will not really vote against it." Tian Dewen, deputy director and researcher of the Institute of Russia, Eurasia, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Times Finance on October 24.
Tras failed to save the British economic "mess" and can Sunak turn the tide?
Tian Dewen said that Sunak can only be regarded as doing his best. Overall, Sunak is first and foremost a relatively stable and experienced politician.
"During Sunak's tenure, under the influence of Brexit and the COVID-19 epidemic, the UK's fiscal situation is deteriorating, but in general, it is not a chaotic situation, and the situation is relatively good." Tian Dewen added.
Image source: Reuters
Indian Oxford academic master
Although he entered the Prime Minister campaign finals twice, Sunak's Indian identity has always been unpopular with some politicians.
On October 22, Conservative Party member Jerry bluntly stated in an interview that the party leader candidate Sunak "does not love England" and is not even British in the eyes of most people.
Sunak was born in 1980 in a middle-class immigrant family from the port city of Southampton in southern England. His father Yashuwell Sunak and his mother Usha Sunak both grew up in East Africa and moved to the UK in the 1960s respectively.
Sunak's father Yashuwell became a registered general practitioner in the UK , and his mother Wusha became a pharmacist. After the two met, they started a family. Sunak's family pays special attention to education. He studied at Winchester Public School and later studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University.
"Sunak is smarter, he is a top student at Oxford University and a professional politician." Tian Dewen noticed that Johnson, Tras and Sunak were all graduated from Oxford University, and Oxford can be said to be one of the cradles of British politicians.
It is reported that from the first Prime Minister recognized in British history, Walpole, to Sunak in 2022, there are a total of 79 prime ministers, of which 26 graduated from Oxford University.
After graduating from Oxford University, Sunak entered Goldman Sachs Group and served as an analyst. Three years later, he joined an hedge fund management company and became a partner in 2006. During this period, he entered the Stanford University Business School and studied at , and obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2006.
In Stanford , Sunak met his future wife Akshata Murthy, and the two got married in 2009. Akshata's father is the founder of Infosys, India's second largest IT company, and is known as the "father of India's IT industry".
Internal changes in the Conservative Party’s top leaders in 2014 changed Sunak’s life trajectory. The constituency "Iron Poll District" Richmond ( Yorkshire ) constituency has been vacant, and Sunak has participated in the election and has entered politics.
At the beginning of his political engagement, Sunak knew very well that voters cared about the label of Indians on him. Therefore, in his speech on the election of lawmakers, he focused on his parents' experience of serving the community and the minority's leap through education, "to create equal opportunities for success for the constituents like parents create opportunities for themselves."
Hu Yukun, a member of the Chinese Translation Association and international political columnist, wrote an article saying that when talking about his identity, Sunak himself also said: "I always think of myself as a professional middle class and do not think that Asians are decisive traits."
Suppose Sunak becomes the first Indian Prime Minister, Tian Dewen said that Conservative MPs fully accept his identity as a minority because the possibility of becoming an Indian agent is zero, and his father is British. But for ordinary Conservative Party members, it is awkward for an Indian to be the prime minister, but now no one can compete with him.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer "upgrades" and faces economic difficulties
Johnson served as British Prime Minister for three years and was widely supported. However, Johnson's reputation plummeted and was eventually forced to resign due to his exposure to violating epidemic prevention regulations and holding a party in the Prime Minister's Office.
Tras resigned as prime minister less than 50 days after taking over, and he also resigned as prime minister due to the implementation of policies such as "mini budget". Tras will remain for the new prime minister election.
Previously, Tian Dewen said in an interview with Times Finance that no matter who is the prime minister, these three problems must be solved: one is inflation , two is rising energy prices, and three is economic recession.
So is Sunak capable?
Back to the time of Sunak's political career, he focused on economic development and policy making. He was elected as a British MP at the age of 35 and was promoted to British Chancellor of the Exchequer in less than 5 years.
In 2016, Sunak not only supported Brexit, but also wrote a report for the "Policy Research Center", the think tank of Thatcherism , and suggested that the UK build free port in the post-Brexit era, calling for the establishment of a retail bond market for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand returns and minimize Brexit losses.
In 2017, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary of State for Local Government Affairs by then Prime Minister Theresa May 3 and entered the government. Since June of the same year, he served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
From January 9, 2018 to July 24, 2019, he served as Deputy State Secretary of the Parliament of the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government. In July 2019, he served as Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
In February 2020, Sunak became the Chancellor of the Johnson administration and became the highest-level official in the financial field.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunak launched a series of aid programs for enterprises and individuals, which were welcomed by many people, and was named "British Economic Jedi".
However, Sunak's economic policy is also controversial, and the measures to cut general credit interest rates have been criticized for "not relieving people's suffering." According to the Joseph Langtree Foundation, more than 200,000 people will be impoverished as a result.
Tian Dewen pointed out that the root cause of the difficulties in the UK now is not entirely in the UK. A considerable part of the problems are external, especially directly related to the US economic policies. The British economy is more serious in de-industrialization of , and is a highly extroverted economy.
"The British economy is greatly affected by the United States. The interest rates of Bank of England and Feder are basically in sync. The United States has the ability to export inflation, but the United Kingdom does not have the ability." Tian Dewen pointed out that now the United Kingdom has actually fallen into economic stagnation and has encountered inflation again, which means it is in a situation of "stagflation". In the face of this situation, any policy can only be alleviated, but cannot be fundamentally resolved.
Former Prime Minister Trass and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwoten have announced a short-term tax cut of £45 billion. But this radical new economic policy triggered a huge shock in the market, causing the exchange rate of pound to fall to a historical low against the US dollar.
"Tras' policy was too radical, causing some turmoil to the UK and the world."Tian Dewen believes that it is almost impossible for Sunak to completely eliminate these difficulties with domestic policies when external conditions remain unchanged. "But he can at least make the country more stable and there will be no chaos. ”
