Rishi Sunak is as elegant as ever, with his impeccably parted hair, but there is now noticeably more grey around his temples. Almost a year after taking over at 10 Downing Street from his predecessor Liz Truss, the prime minister is feeling the pressure. Despite this, at the start of the Conservative Party's annual conference, held in Manchester from October 1 to October 4, this 43-year-old Tory who made a lightning-fast political ascension – elected MP in 2015 and appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020 – still seems to believe in his chances at the 2024 general election, even though his party is severely strained after 13 years in power and their track record is hard to defend in light of the cost-of-living crisis and Brexit. Worse still, the Tories lag well behind their Labour opponents in the polls.
This time last year, the Tories seemed overwhelmed by self-destructive urges. They had just dumped Boris Johnson, exasperated by his lies and omissions; only for him to be succeeded in September by Liz Truss, who soon had to fight to stay in office after having triggered financial turmoil with her unfunded tax cut plan. In the end, Rishi Sunak, who had campaigned unsuccessfully against her a few weeks earlier, was quickly voted in as a last resort to replace her at the end of October.
Once in charge, he did exactly what was expected of him, which was to restore order to a chaotic parliamentary group and bring professionalism and seriousness back to Downing Street. Rishi Sunak "stabilized the party after Liz Truss's tumultuous tenure," said Anand Menon, professor of European politics and foreign affairs at Kings College, London, and director of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe. "Make no mistake, his party remains very divided on the economy and the environment. But Tory MPs have realized that they can't challenge their leader yet again, as they are too close to the next general election."
Little left to lose
The Conservative Party's leader has also restored the UK's image on the international stage and re-established normal – if not cordial – diplomatic relations with Paris and Brussels. In February, he and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, signed the Windsor Framework, an agreement on the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland, putting a recurring dispute with the European Union (EU) to rest. In March, he was in Paris for a Franco-British summit at which he sealed a "new beginning" with French President Emmanuel Macron and succeeded in renewing a partnership on migration without raising controversy.
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