United Kingdom: three prime ministers in the midst of a political and economic crisis

Boris Johnson resigns

On July 7, 2022, politician Boris Johnson, as a result of the incessant scandals under his leadership, announced his resignation, both as leader of the Conservative Party and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The aforementioned uproars fell mainly on the consolidation of a motion of no confidence against Johnson, which was supported in the report by the deputy secretary of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, Sue Gray.

The report in question was based on investigations arising from multiple complaints about parties and meetings that took place throughout the pandemic, despite the rigid measures imposed by the British government. Given this, the activation of the "vote of confidence" of parliament, required on June 6 of the current year, was consecutive, when at least 54 deputies or 15% of the majority, withdrew their confidence in the current ruler, demanding in writing the reinstatement of his position. This led to a symbol of protest that led to the resignation of more than 50 officials from his Cabinet. (Armijo 2022)

The resignation of Boris Johnson urged the follow-up of a procedure focused on the election of a new prime minister, for which a calendar was set. This set out the scheduled dates for the continuous voting held by the 359 conservative deputies, to elect the two best candidates from a list of those interested in assuming office; and at the end determine the successor or successor of the mandate.

Close to the approval of the calendar by all conservative deputies who are not part of the cabinet (members of the 1922 Committee), the first phase was completed starting on July 12, 2022, which consisted of defining the list at the end the closing of nominations. To continue participating in the contest, the support of at least 20 parliamentarians was necessary (one proponent, one seconder and 18 supporters). (Armijo 2022)

Accordingly, the possible candidates were announced in a list of eight current and former officials of the Johnson administration: "Kemi Badenoch, former Equalities Minister; Suella Braverman, UK Attorney General; Jeremy Hunt, former Health Secretary; Penny Mordaunt, Trade Minister; Rishi Sunak, former Chancellor of the Exchequer; Liz Truss, Foreign Secretary; Nadhim Zahawi, Chancellor of the Exchequer; and Tom Tugendhat, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons." [1]

On July 13, the first round of voting took place. A minimum of 30 votes had to be reached to remain in the race. Sunak, Mordaunt and Truss positioned themselves consecutively on the rise; On the other hand, those eliminated were Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi. The second round of voting took place on July 14, in which the candidate with the lowest number of votes, Suella Braverman, was eliminated. Thus, consecutively, the third, fourth and fifth rounds of voting were carried out (on July 18, 19 and 20), in which Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and, after a turn of the all unexpected, to Penny Mordaunt. (DW, 2022; Armijo, 2022)

Truss and Sunak's proposals

This is how on July 21 it was revealed that the 2 finalist contenders were: Rishi Sunak and Elizabeth Truss, who were characterized by their divergent proposals:

On the one hand, regarding the issue of taxes and living costs, Sunak has raised the reduction and control of the inflation rate as his priority; To do this, he focuses on increasing the corporate tax to 25%, as well as implementing radical reforms regarding corporate taxation to boost investment. It also proposed reducing the basic rate of income tax by 2024 and eliminating the 5% VAT rate on domestic energy for one year, only if the final bill price exceeds £3,000. Only if these strategies were successful, he promised to reduce taxes on citizens.

On the other hand, Truss proposed scrapping the corporate tax increase planned for 2023, as well as strengthening monetary policy and inflation management by the Bank of England. She also promised the creation of a center of innovation and entrepreneurship through changes to the tax system and the creation of new low-tax, low-regulation zones. In addition, she planned to boost the economy through a cut plan that was estimated to be approximately 30 billion pounds.

Now, on issues related to the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union (Brexit), the couple agreed that one of the main problems to be resolved is the controversy over the Protocol on Northern Ireland. Under Sunak's approach, he seeks to continue with the legislation promoted by Boris Johnson to invalidate it. However, she intends to reach an agreement with Brussels. On the contrary, Truss had a notable advantage on the issue having served as Foreign Secretary. Every time she designed the bill to modify the protocol, as well as, members of parliament made evident her support for her, for having shown solid leadership to face the negotiations with Brussels.

Regarding the immigration issue, appreciated under Sunak's approach, it seeks to give parliament control over the accounting of migrants entering the country by establishing an annual limit on the number of refugees accepted. Likewise, she intends to strengthen the categories for asylum and incorporate more mechanisms to monitor and detain those who enter the territory illegally. With an antagonistic approach, Truss aspired to more deportation agreements like the one promoted with Rwanda, additionally, she suggested doubling the number of Border Force officials.

Following this, are the proposals against climate change. Sunak's main objectives are: the eradication of carbon emissions by 2050, continuing the promotion of ecological levies (or the green tax), as well as the introduction of a legal objective to consolidate the United Kingdom's energy self-sufficiency by 2045. In counterpart, Truss sought to replace the green tax with less harmful measures for people and companies, but shared the net zero objective for the year 2050. (BBC NEWS, 2022; Swissinfo, 2022; Armijo, 2022)

Both finalists arrive at number 10 Downing Street

This is how on September 5, the victory of Liz Truss as leader of the Conservative Party, as well as as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was announced. She assumed office in an audience held in Scotland with Queen Elizabeth II, through a formal act, in which the monarch requested the formation of a new Government (DW, 2022). However, after the death of the main British political figure, the situation did not allow Truss to carry out her role efficiently.

The current panorama was already challenging for the new Prime Minister. Primarily, she had to keep in mind two challenges for the country: the high margin of inflation and high energy costs, coupled with the future problems that the war in Ukraine could bring. Consequently, following what was expressed during the Conservative Party votes, it implemented an economic package that proposed, among other things, the elimination of income tax (45%) for those who earned more than 150 thousand pounds sterling annually, as well as the limit on salary bonuses for bankers. (Walls, 2022)

Despite the Prime Minister's continued efforts to support the imposed economic measures, after 45 days in office, Elizabeth Truss presented her resignation on Thursday, October 20. The chaos in the financial markets, the dismissal of its Finance Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng and the resignation of the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, together with the loss of support from the Conservatives, resulted in the appointment of Rishi Sunak , his main opponent during the July and August votes, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Faced with strong political instability and economic stagnation caused by the British government since the Covid-19 pandemic, time will tell if Sunak is what the United Kingdom needs. As the youngest prime minister in 200 years and of Indian origin, the conservatives have opted for the former Minister of Finance as the "savior" of the State, while others expose that his political career is marked by errors and criticism for the detachment to the reality faced by the population in general and the most disadvantaged in particular. (Chaddah, 2022)