Source: China News Service
On the 24th local time, former British Chancellor Rich Sunak confirmed that he would serve as the new head of the British Conservative Party and British Prime Minister , making him the first Indian Prime Minister in British history.
In less than half a year, the British Prime Minister changed twice, and many cabinet ministers resigned one after another. Why is the British political arena constantly shaking? What challenges will Sunak face during his tenure as prime minister? How will he solve problems such as economic and party unity? Researcher at the European Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences pointed out in an interview with China News Service that issues such as the economy, people's livelihood and the differences within the party in the Conservative Party are the most important reasons for the British political crisis and the biggest challenge facing Prime Minister Sunak during his tenure. How to deal with it will become the key to affecting the future of Sunak, the Conservative Party, , and even the entire UK.
Differences cannot cover up the political turmoil
In early July this year, Sunak, then the Chancellor of the Finance Minister, and Javid, then the Minister of Health, announced his resignation, opening up a wave of "government officials' resignation". After that, the then Prime Minister Johnson resigned. After several rounds of elections, Tras defeated several competitors, including Sunak, and became the new prime minister in early September. But after only more than a month in office, Tras announced his resignation.
Zhao Junjie believes that the political turmoil in in the past six months reflects that the UK is experiencing a "all-round systemic crisis" . On the one hand, the Conservative Party has intensified its differences within the party, making it difficult to provide unanimous support to the Prime Minister, and there is a lack of visionary and politicians within its party that take on important responsibilities. On the other hand, affected by the Ukrainian crisis, the high domestic inflation and soaring prices in the UK have led to a decline in the public's trust in the government, and the Conservative government is facing a severe crisis of trust and governance.
Compared with the election process after Johnson resigned, the Conservative election was faster. It took less than a week from Tras' resignation to the confirmation of the new prime minister. Zhao Junjie analyzed that the Conservative Party has realized that the pressure from the people and the opposition Labor Party is gradually increasing. At this time, decisive measures must be taken to recommend leaders who are more likely to solve the problem, otherwise the ruling status of will be in danger.
Revitalize the situation and "stable" word to take the lead
Sunak lost to Tras in the previous party elections, revitalizes the situation and wins the position of Prime Minister. Zhao Junjie believes that Sunak's previous defeat is more related to political factors: Sunak's resignation in July can be said to be one of the reasons that prompted Johnson to resign, and some party insiders labeled him as "disloyal", causing him to lose a lot of votes.
Zhao Junjie pointed out that after Sunak took office, his first priority is to "stabilize" . As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and an economist, Sunak has a deeper understanding of the economic situation in the UK and his ruling style is more stable. On the issue of tax cuts, Sunak's idea is not radical and emphasizes the need to formulate relevant policies based on national conditions. "Sunak realized the problem of insufficient fiscal revenue in the UK, so he proposed to take targeted measures to support the manufacturing industry to drive economic recovery," said Zhao Junjie.
In addition, Zhao Junjie believes that Sunak will focus more energy on internal and external attitudes will be relatively moderate . "Especially, after the UK's 'Brexit', it is getting further away from EU . Sunak may need to invest more energy in maintaining relations with the EU." What is the solution to the dilemma of
? The road ahead is long and
Sunak's election makes him the first Indian Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Zhao Junjie believes that in the eyes of the British, Sunak's image is closer to a "political elite", but becoming a "political elite" means that there may be problems such as solidifying thinking and being separated from the people. Zhao Junjie said: " As a minority, Sunak will pay more attention to the survival status of British minorities and will have more open minds. This is one of his advantages in politics and promoting reforms. ."
Zhao Junjie believes that Sunak will face more severe internal and external problems during his tenure. His top priority is to stabilize the economy and pay more attention to people's livelihood issues.
"The future direction of Sunak, the Conservative Party and even the entire UK depends not only on whether the Conservative Party, as the ruling party, can truly unite to give unanimous support to the Prime Minister, but also on whether Sunak's solution can help the British economy in the short term. Otherwise, not only will Sunak's position as prime minister cannot be guaranteed, but the crisis of trust faced by the entire Conservative Party will also deepen, and the general election will be forced to hold early, and the British economy and society will also fall into a greater crisis." Zhao Junjie said.
