Failsafe: Supermac and Sunak
Britain has seen her first Asian Prime Minister as Rishi Sunak rises as the Leader of the Conservative Party. Nonetheless, Mr Sunak is not to grin inanely as he has inherited a poisoned chalice from his predecessor Liz Truss. Although Mrs Truss had a fundamentally fitting vision for the Post-Thatcher Conservative party, she herself was unfit for government. Her incompetence to actualise those visions led to an utterly pathetic display, which, with divine providence, ended in a mere 45 days.
In light of such uncharitable developments, Mr Sunak is to lead the party and the nation. As he acknowledged, it won’t be easy to tackle ‘profound economic challenges’. However, we shan’t despair for the Conservatives have a failsafe, their ways to prevent utter breakdown. This failsafe has saved the party from the brink of River Styx in circumstances grimmer than the present day development, viz Suez Crisis.
Indeed, the legacies of the scandalous Johnson administration and the unstable Truss administration will resonate amongst voters as an embarrassment. However, the Suez Crisis was way beyond a mere embarrassment. It was a disaster that could have terminated the conservative party once and for all. Heavy burdens to rescue the Conservative confidence and turbulent nation were bestowed upon Harold Macmillan, who truly deserved his nickname: Supermac. Macmillan not only rebuilt the Conservative name from the wreckage but also led the economic prosperity symbolised by his slogan, ‘You’ve never had it so good’. Mr Sunak’s tremendous task ahead of him draws a parallel with the task that Mr Macmillan took in 1957.
The first point to note is indeed the severity of circumstances. It has been a bad year for Conservatives. Inner party struggles, notably Mr Johnson losing his grip on the party from a continuum of scandals succeeded by the tottering premiership of Mrs Truss have made the voters question the Conservative Party’s ability to govern. Then there were indeed external factors, such as the cost of living crisis, recession amid rising interest rates and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The chain effect has ended up with Conservative Party trailing the Labour Party by an incredible 32 points.
As discussed above, the Suez Crisis was also an immense danger to the party’s outlook, to some extent, even worse than the crisis ahead of us today. It was a humiliating declaration made to the world that Britain’s imperial days are over. The fiasco of Britain mobilising her troops only to solidify the Egyptian claim over the Suez left a disheartening wound amongst Britons. On top of that, the nation was suffering economically. Not only did the treasury not fully recover from the overspending of the Korean War, but also the Prime Minister’s right hand man R.A. Butler’s economic policies started showing its limits in the form of sharp inflation and deficits. Voters then called for a general election, displaying distrust towards the Conservative Party.
The parallel deepens further to the personal level. Both Mr Sunak and Mr Macmillan were Chancellor of the Exchequer, and just like Mr Sunak, Macmillan faced the looming prospect of a stunning defeat. If one examines their policy outlooks, the similarity only grows stronger. Mr Macmillan was an ardent supporter of the one-nation approach to economics, opposing spending cuts advised by his ministers. The resemblance of such outlooks to Sunak’s is almost uncanny, as he also feels the necessity of higher public spending and opposes any unnecessary tax cuts.
The parallel, however, must not just remain in the severity of circumstances and personal level. Rather, it should extend to the results. Mr Sunak is in a vital position to repeat the feat of Supermac. The Conservative party, who has entrusted Mr Sunak, is also under the obligation to unite behind him. If done well, Conservatives can prove once again that they stand by integrity, stability and aptness, which differentiates them from the Labours. They will lead the subsidence of the inflation rate, the rise of the growth rate and the revival of public finances in 12-18 months. Then, within this stability, the party can deliver conservative ideals of tax cuts, spending cuts and smaller government. Once voters reap the fruit of such policies, the grim memories of Johnson and Truss will wither into oblivion, leading to a Conservative victory in 2024 or 2025. To make this false optimism a reasonable expectation, Conservative Party must prove that its failsafe, the very failsafe operated by Supermac, is still operable.