European of the week
Rishi Sunak, the banker who wants to bring calm to 10 Downing Street
Audio 03:28
Former finance minister Rishi Sunak won 88 votes in the first round of voting to replace Boris Johnson in July 2022. AP - Alberto Pezzali
By: Martin Chabal
4 mins
On September 5, we will know who of Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Members of the Conservative Party must choose between the current head of diplomacy and the now ex-minister of finance.
This young banker, who arrived in Westminster in 2015, has experienced a meteoric rise.
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Throughout these weeks of campaigning, Rishi Sunak had one goal: to showcase his skills in economics.
From the first debate against Liz Truss, the 42-year-old former Goldman Sachs banker interrupted his competitor to correct her on many points of her program.
If the head of British diplomacy promises to put money "
into the pockets of British workers
", Rishi Sunak reminds her that
the bill for the Covid-19 pandemic
will have to be paid : "
We all knew that there would have a bill to pay for it.
So the question is whether we should pay this bill ourselves or put it on the country's credit card and pass it on to our children and grandchildren.
Which
would be unfair, he says.
A meteoric rise
Rishi Sunak is relatively new to British politics.
Member of Parliament in 2015, then Chief Secretary of the Treasury from 2019, he was appointed Minister of Finance the following year.
According to Aurélien Antoine, professor of public law, specialist in British institutions and director of the Brexit observatory, Rishi Sunak “has been
asserting himself in the British political landscape for only a few years.
Particularly in its budgetary management of the pandemic.
»
Faced with the pandemic, the ex-banker has temporarily broken with the conservative principle of the free market, but Aurélien Antoine promises that he is not revolutionary either:
“
He is a fairly classic conservative, in his positions, he is rather in favor of maintaining taxes and levies to deal with the various crises.
»
►
To read also
:
Rishi Sunak, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer in the storm
Less eccentric than Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak also stands out from his rival:
“
He is more classic than Liz Truss who has a more chaotic, less coherent career
,”
observes Aurélien Antoine.
His professional past of course ranks him among the most neoliberals in the party, "
when you work at Goldman Sachs of course...
", smiles the specialist in British institutions.
For Simon Usherwood, professor of political science at the Open University, on the other hand, Sunak's political decisions should not change radically compared to those of his potential predecessor:
“
The country's finances are not in good shape.
There are many constraints and challenges, be it the cost of living, the war in Ukraine or the effects of Brexit.
All of this leaves very little room for innovative policy.
»
A wealthy MP
His background in finance would place him among the wealthiest MPs in the UK.
A situation which is not necessarily favorable to him vis-à-vis the opposition and the British.
Especially since a mini-scandal around the financial situation of his wife has placed the former Minister of Finance in an unfortunate position, according to Aurélien Antoine: "
They wonder if he has not benefited from placement in paradise tax.
»
If Rishi Sunak initially returned an image of seriousness and stability, this presence more or less faded over the course of the campaign.
Eager to show himself in contact with these fellow citizens, Rishi Sunak was photographed refueling at the gas station, ordering at McDonald's… But quickly, the British realized the deception.
The car in which he was putting gasoline was a car borrowed from a station employee and in the fast food restaurant, Rishi Sunak was trying to pay with his credit card, contactless, for an order that had already been paid for... He had to He also said that he loved to take a
wrap
in this restaurant chain for breakfast, a sandwich that hasn't existed for two years.
►
To read also
:
Succession of Boris Johnson: Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, what brings them together and what separates them
But facing Liz Truss, the native of Southampton, originally from India, still has the coast for all of the British,
according to You Gov polls
.
But it is the members of the Conservative Party who will elect their leader.
They would favor Liz Truss.
They do not seem to have forgiven Rishi Sunak for his resignation, which precipitated the fall of Boris Johnson's government.
The former Prime Minister also seems to refuse to speak to his former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
What anger all those who support
BoJo
with the one who hopes, despite his delay in the race, to push the door of 10 Downing Street.
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