0
0
At the start of the General Election year, it’s clear from the polls that a Labour majority is appearing more and more likely. After over a decade of Tory leadership, why is it only now that the end feels near, and what has Rishi Sunak done to exacerbate issues?
Since 2019, the Conservative Party has cycled through three different prime ministers, making it appear unstable and unsure of what it stands for. While Rishi originally came to power as a pair of safe hands to brush over the mistakes of his predecessors, he has become a deeply unpopular, polarising figure.
The main critique of Rishi is that he has consistently appeared to be out of touch with the electorate, choosing to promote policies unpopular with many of the public while trying to appeal to a small niche of voters. This is apparent in his obsession with pushing through the Rwanda bill despite the judgment that this goes against human rights law. It is an unpopular policy requiring a suspension of human rights legislation, dividing his party further, yet he remains determined to see it to fruition. Despite U-turns on numerous other policies, no more notorious than the suspension of HS2, Rishi refuses to back down. Especially with the rise of Reform UK, whose focus on anti-immigration policies has split the demographic from the Conservatives, thus emphasising the poor choice of Conservative policy direction.
Rishi himself doesn’t help their case with his extraordinarily wealthy background, giving him the appearance that he doesn’t fully understand the day-to-day struggles of the ordinary voter. A famous example of this was the video of him asking a homeless man, “do you work in business?” The release of videos like this, ostensibly to promote him as understanding the poorer sections of society, has had the opposite effect, generating an unpopular image, turning the public against him and, by extension, the Conservative party. Not to mention his most recent controversial comments involving trans people, where he overlooked the weight of his words in an attempt to make a jibe towards Keir Starmer, showing a complete lack of empathy and an inaptitude for politics that is apparent in many of his public interactions.
Scandal after scandal, prime minister after prime minister, in a time of instability, the public wants a government that can offer reliability. Unfortunately for the Conservatives, Rishi has been unable to provide evidence that they can provide this. While the likeability of his opposition, Keir Starmer, is another question, it seems unlikely the Conservatives will be able to turn it around in time for the upcoming election under Rishi Sunak’s leadership.
Image: “Official portrait of Rishi Sunak”, Chris McAndrew, June 2017// CC BY 3.0 DEED
Average Rating