Truss Out. Sunak In.
Conservative Party leader Liz Truss resigns after shortest tenure in history as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak is the new British Prime Minister.
When history happens, we feel responsible to update our stuff. So here we go.
Update 10/24
Rishi Sunak is the new British Prime Minister, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer was propelled to power following a swift leadership contest within the ruling Conservative Party. Here is the bottom line according to “the” expert, Nile Gardiner.
So, what is the bottom line? The Conservatives have two years (20240 before they must call national elections, but Sunak faces a resurgent Labour Party, with an average poll lead of 20 to 30 percentage points, as well as the specter of Scottish Nationalism, with the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) pressing to hold another referendum on Scottish independence.
What can we expect? Expect few major shifts in foreign policy, such as Ukraine (continued support), Brexit (likely no change), Defense (no big defense increases), China (wary engagement), energy (continued sort for netzero) and the Iran Deal (follow US lead).
Sunak is more concerned with domestic policy and there he faces major issues including soaring inflation, a cost of living crisis, a mounting energy crisis, and the reality of large numbers of illegal migrants crossing into the United Kingdom from across the English Channel, as well as continuing tensions with the European Union over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
What’s Next? Sunak will no doubt be a UK leader more to the US administration’s liking that won’t necessarily smooth transatlantic relations where the divide among Europeans over a variety of issues including immigration, energy, cultural issues, and security is growing not shrinking. Sunak is not the kind of leader that will tip the balance.
Update 10/20
You can read our original optimistic interview below, but turns out unlike the original Iron Lady, in a crucial moment in her new tenure Truss “went wobbly.”
Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation after just 44 days in office following a reversal abandoning a bold economic agenda of tax-cuts and reforms. Here is an update based on a recent commentary by expert Nile Gardiner.
What happened? A government with a majority of over 70 parliamentary seats has basically collapsed.
The U-turns on tax policy have been catastrophic, and the consequences for the British economy will be dire. The collapse of the Truss Government has emboldened the Socialists, the anti-Brexit elites, and the Scottish nationalists. Their goal is a high-tax, Big Government Britain, once again shackled to the EU, and ultimately torn apart. This will be the legacy of Truss’s ousting, unless the next Conservative Prime Minister can dramatically turn the Conservatives’ fortunes around.
What’s Next? The priority for the new PM ought to be to protect the future of Brexit, secure Britain’s borders and sovereignty, and advance economic freedom, while ensuring that the Socialist Left and the Scottish Nationalists are not in a position to undermine Brexit and the United Kingdom. The test for party leadership will be telling. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is flying back to the UK this weekend and could be a candidate for leadership, currently he is polling strongly. Johnson could give conservative leadership a second life or British domestic and global leadership could lapse into something more muddled. That said, British support for Ukraine appears to remain strong. The UK recently took a constructive move of sanctioning Iran for supplying weapons to Russia.
Original Article
After a short meeting with the Queen, Liz Truss is now in charge of British foreign and defense policy, in addition to all her other duties as Prime Minister. Leaders from William Pit to Winston Churchill and Lady Thatcher had held this office, leading their island nation in war and peace. What kind of leader will Truss become?
I knew just the person to ask-Nile Gardiner. Nile worked for Lady Thatcher. He is the author of the book on the lessons of the Iron Lady’s leadership. Nile is also one of the world’s most-informed experts on British comtemporary politics and a leading conservative commentator.
What’s the bottom line here? What does her securing the leadership of the Conservative Party and the prime ministership signify? Liz Truss’s decisive victory in the Conservative Party leadership contest is tremendous news for Great Britain, the United States and the free world.
Truss is a standard bearer for Brexit, economic freedom, secure borders and national sovereignty. She is a conservative, principled politician, and projects a strategic vision of a powerful West that is a bastion of freedom and self-determination. And she is willing to reject the Big Government status quo.
What Difference will she make? A Truss-led government could be the most radical British Conservative administration since Margaret Thatcher, a game changer on the world stage, willing to challenge the old guard and offer conservative ideas and solutions to global problems. Truss understands, as did Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, that strength and determination – combined with a belief in cutting taxes and regulations, and reining in the power of the state – are a tremendous formula for success.
Mrs. Thatcher with President Ronald Reagan.
What impact will she have on British foreign policy? It is highly encouraging that Truss is feared, even hated by the enemies of the free world in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran. They understand that she will stand her ground. As foreign secretary, she amply demonstrated that she will not be intimidated by dictatorial regimes.
Sovereignty, self-determination, and economic freedom, are all now front and centre in British strategic thought. So is an awareness that UK defence spending has to rise to match global ambitions, as well as a concerted willingness to confront the rising threat posed by Communist China.
Will Liz Truss be another Iron Lady? Boldness, conviction and resolve will be the order of the day as Britain’s third female prime minister takes office. She will start by following the example of Lady Thatcher: a fearless defender of Britain and the principles of liberty that have sustained it for centuries.
As the great Iron Lady used to say, America needs friends and partners in the often lonely task of global leadership. And the U.S. will have no more powerful and robust ally than Great Britain in its new role outside of the European Union
.