Prime Minister Sunak Puts Brexit Hardliner in Key Role, Buoying Hopes of Conservative Grassroots

Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die.On the anniversary of the infamous charge of the Light Brigade, immortalized by Lord Tennyson, Conservative rank-and-file members may feel an unlikely affinity with the sacrificed cavalry. Are they asked no more than “to do and die,” as well? Given a choice between Elizabeth “Liz” Truss and Rishi Sunak as party leader, they chose Ms. Truss. In response, the Conservative Establishment thought the membership had “blundered.” Premier Truss was grudgingly permitted her time in office until she had the temerity to cut taxes. With unseemly haste — after but 50 days in office — Ms. Truss was pushed out in favor of Mr. Sunak, who “kissed hands” with Charles III this morning. That the membership is “dismay’d” is an understatement.Nevertheless, your Diarist shall grant Mr. Sunak if not one of Herblock’s free shaves at least the benefit of the doubt, conceding the new Prime Minister a “honeymoon” period. Conservatives, I daresay, will do the same. Much like Lord Cardigan’s Dragoons, Lancers, and Hussars, the Tory Government faces “cannon to right of them . . . to left of them . . . in front of them.” What is their alternative?Nigel Farage, call your office, I say. Meantime some leeway for this reconstituted Conservative Government, at a time of national division and crisis. Yet in listening to Mr. Sunak outside Number 10 in his first address as Premier, I may be accused, rather, of taking a page from the “demon barber of Fleet Street,” Sweeney Todd.“I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss, she was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country, it is a noble aim,” Mr. Sunak stated. “But some mistakes were made. And I have been elected as leader of my party, and your Prime Minister, in part, to fix them.”Thus, in his opening words, Mr. Sunak risks further ruptures within his party. To begin, his assertion that he has been “elected as leader” will certainly enrage Conservative members. Given the nature of the 1922 Committee rules in the tense circumstances surrounding Ms. Truss’s resignation, his rise to the top of what Disraeli called the greasy pole may have been inevitable.Mr. Sunak cannot be faulted for being the sole candidate to qualify. Yet he need not rub salt in the wounds of a self-described “disenfranchised” membership. After all, next, to what “mistakes” does Mr. Sunak refer? Ostensibly, in light of his failed summer leadership bid, “Trussonomics” and tax-cutting for economic growth — summarily binned — in favor of a return to his own “highest tax rises” in 70 years.Or were those mistakes the £500 billion expenditure engendered by the Boris Johnson in response to Covid — lockdowns and furloughs — in a government of which Mr. Sunak was Chancellor?Apparently not, as the new Premier takes pride in having presided over these impostures upon “maximal liberty and minimal government.” Perhaps he was referring to missteps in the ongoing crises in cost-of-living, of immigration, and energy supply.Regardless, Mr. Sunak promises a “fix” and, toward that end, asserts “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda.” Well, see my remarks above. Is what is past, now prologue? Surprisingly, a general consensus is emerging that in selecting his Cabinet, Mr. Sunak is putting together a Tory dream team, that will allay the elite establishment and, more importantly, disgruntled Brexiteers.Jeremy Hunt, for example, remains Chancellor of the Exchequer, having calmed the markets with his “status-quo” tax regime. At the same time, the Prime Minister has “reappointed” as Home Secretary, Suella Braverman.She is seen as the first Tory — finally — who takes the issues of legal and illegal immigration seriously. Previously as Home Secretary, she was in favor of getting the United Kingdom out of the European Convention of Human Rights, a major stumbling block to border control.Ms. Braverman also takes a hard line on the European Court of Justice and the Northern Ireland Protocol. Pundits proclaim that this Cabinet appointment alone — amid general approval of the strong presence of Brexit supporters in relation to Remainers — reflects well on the incoming Administration.So ends Mr. Sunak’s first day as First Minister. “I stand here before you ready to lead our country into the future,” he said outside No. 10, “To put your needs above politics.”To the Conservative membership who will doubtless feel hard done by, he offered an olive branch: “To reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party.” And with an eye to a future election and the need for canvassers and volunteers, he vowed, “Together we can achieve incredible things.”Of the Light Brigade’s fateful action of 1854, Lord Tennyson wondered, “When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!” In the crises Britons have confronted and will continue to struggle against in the months to come, Mr. Sunak’s counsel of optimism echoes this aura of Crimean War heroism.“We will create a future worthy of the sacrifices so many have made and fill tomorrow, and everyday thereafter, with hope.”BrexitDiarist@gmail.com

Prime Minister Sunak Puts Brexit Hardliner in Key Role, Buoying Hopes of Conservative Grassroots

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