Should Sunak Have Waited?

When Mr. Sunak announced in May he was calling an election on 4 July many could not believe it. As the former Prime Minister suggested, he would hold the election at the back end of the year. Some thought he would hold the election in November. As Sunak stood there in the pouring rain announcing the election, the rain seemed like a bad omen. Voters on the 4 July rejected him en mass and rained on his parade ending his reign. After much soul-searching and licking their wounds, the Tories elected a new leader. Kemi Badenoch is yet another female leader who has been likened to (again) Mrs. T (Thatcher). Before her May and Truss were likened to Thatcher and where are they now?

However, is the election of Badenoch just a gut reaction to Farage's Reform who inflicted so much damage on them? Many Tories drifted towards Farage because they saw him as a more right-wing version of the Tories. So in electing Badenoch, the first Black female leader of a political party in the UK, have the Tories moved further to the right? The answer to that would be a resounding yes, given Reforms 5 right-wing MPs chomping at the bit.

The election led to the Tory's greatest loss ever in a general election. It was a political catastrophe to end all political catastrophes. Sunak's defeat left the Tories with 121 MPs. Many of their comrades were wiped out in seats up and down the country. The Liberal Democrats did exceptionally well with 72 MPs. Thanks to their leader Ed Davey who wasn't ashamed to put himself out there doing various mad-cap antics. Keir and the Gang (not Kool) romped home with 411 seats. Starmer's victory recalled Tony Blair's landslide victory in 1997.

Had Sunak waited until November would things have been different for him? Would he have romped home to serve another 5 years as the inhabitant of 10 Downing Street? Would he have been, as the first Hindu Prime Minister, have been celebrating Diwali in 10 Downing Street? One cannot say for sure.

However, given the Tory's awful track record on many things (which I will not repeat here it's all out in the public domain should you wish to read about it) it was inevitable they would be kicked out of office. 14 years of nothing and people had had enough. A government out of time and out of ideas and on the wrong side of history. How the Tories managed to stay in power for 14 years is a wonder at all.

So in Kemi Badenoch what will her rise to dominance mean for the Conservatives? Will she be rejected because she is black? Is the country ready for a black woman not even born here (Nigeria) to be the next PM? Or will she crash and burn like the last two female Tory leaders? Given her short time as the leader, one cannot speculate. She will either lead the Conservatives back to power or fail miserably at the next general election (in 5 years). A lot depends on how Sir Keir does, the jury is still out on the first Labour PM since Gordon Brown. Some see good, some see bad and that is only to be expected.

So where is Sunak now? Sunak did not quit as an MP as many thought he would after such a crushing defeat. Many thought not only would he resign as PM (as soon as a replacement was chosen) but would head for warmer climes. Namely, California where he would take up some job in finance again. However, that didn't happen. Sunak is a backbench MP serving his constituency in Yorkshire if that's what you call it.