Week-in-Review: A political consensus in favour of ‘change’ suits Starmer, not Sunak
Two annual gatherings and two carefully choreographed perorations later, and Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer appear to have settled, in their headline pitch at least, on a similar electoral strategy: sell “change”. Look no further than the headline pitches, and you might conclude that Britain is suffering an unlikely blight of banal bipartisanship. But Sunak […]
After Keir Starmer’s conference speech, the time for Rishi Sunak to get bold on housing is now
In his speech to Labour party conference yesterday, Keir Starmer laid out his pitch to be prime minister. He placed the housing crisis front and centre of his speech, promising to build a “new Britain” by “bulldozing” a path through the planning system. The rhetoric was targeted, attempting to position his party as the answer […]
‘Terrorism will not prevail’: Rishi Sunak offers Israel UK support amid ‘horrific violence’
Rishi Sunak has offered UK support to Israel as he condemned the “horrific violence that Hamas unleashed over the weekend”. It comes as at least 800 people have reportedly been killed in Israel, according to local media — and almost 500 have been killed in Gaza, with thousands wounded, since Israel began carrying out airstrikes […]
Week-in-Review: Rishi Sunak’s ‘reinvention’ shows the limits of his power
Why do leaders and parties reinvent themselves? Here’s one obvious answer to that question: because they have to. Rishi Sunak’s updated political approach, expounded this week before his party faithful, might simply be explained in terms of the Conservatives’ enduring electoral travails. With his party languishing behind the Labour in the polls, a refreshed approach […]
Rishi Sunak: ‘I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project’
The PM has labelled HS2 “the ultimate example of the old consensus” in his speech to Conservative Party conference, and hit out at the soaring costs and long delays. “I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project”, he declared He explained the government will instead reinvest the savings — £36bn — in “hundreds of […]
Sunak refuses to be ‘rushed’ on HS2, says he will not be ‘forced into premature decision’
Rishi Sunak has said this morning that he wants to make the “right decision for the country” on HS2 as he insisted ministers would not be “rushed” on the subject. Multiple outlets are reporting Sunak has decided to axe the line and will make an announcement in his keynote speech at conference tomorrow. Number 10 […]
Meet Rishi 2.0: How the PM intends to reposition as the ‘change’ candidate in 2024
In a revealing exchange with Laura Kuenssberg during his pre-conference Sunday morning interview, the prime minister was asked what, if anything, he admired in Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Sunak refused to answer: “Great”, he began, “I’m not interested in talking about personalities, people can make up their own minds”. He continued: “I’m interested in […]
Week-in-Review: Sunak can’t stop Braverman honing her pitch to be Conservative leader
All it took was a thirty-minute speech. In the crucial days leading up to Conservative conference, Suella Braverman seized control of the news agenda this week in the only way Britain’s sabre-rattling, controversialist-in-chief knows how. Here’s a not very short summary: on Monday evening, Braverman’s comments for a forthcoming speech on migration to the American […]
‘I got a lot of flack’: PM reflects on net zero reforms, says Sharma standing down ‘not linked’
Questioned this morning on his round of local radio interviews, Rishi Sunak reflected on his recently announced reforms to net zero admitting the government “got a lot of flack”. However, he insisted that the reforms were the right thing to do, telling BBC Radio Berkshire that he does not want to pass the costs to […]
Donald Trump praising ‘smart’ Rishi Sunak is a sign of things to come
Rishi Sunak’s speech last week — which confirmed reports that the government was indeed watering down its offering on net zero — was met with its fair share of critics. Shadow net zero secretary Ed Miliband was among the more predictable disparagers as he castigated “more dither and more delay” and Sunak himself as a […]
