Sunak must not be given the opportunity to distance himself from the Tory record

Today, the UK will see its third Prime Minister in as many months. Rishi Sunak was confirmed as Liz Truss’ successor yesterday after his only rival Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the race, having failed to reach the threshold of MP endorsements needed to progress. In an increasingly familiar routine, the outgoing Prime Minister will meet with the King this morning to offer her resignation. (I’m sure he’ll be delighted to be seeing her again so soon.) The King will subsequently meet with Sunak and invite him to form a government. The new Prime Minister is then expected to deliver a statement from Downing Street.

Following his confirmation as Truss’ successor, Sunak said: “The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge. We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.” Given the truncated nature of the latest Tory leadership contest, this two-minute speech was the first time Sunak had been required to given any indication of what his premiership might look like. As Angela Rayner pointed out yesterday, Sunak has succeeded in becoming Prime Minister without saying a “single word about how he would run the country”. The deputy Labour leader declared that it was “no wonder” the former Chancellor was “dodging scrutiny” given his record in government and the fact that Truss “comprehensively beat” him in the leadership contest over the summer.

And what a record in government Sunak has. In March, his Spring Statement was met with almost universal condemnation for failing to face up to the realities of the cost-of-living crisis. The New Economics Foundation’s Alfie Stirling put it best at the time: “[Sunak] was faced with the worst living standards crisis in 50 years. He had plenty of room for manoeuvre [and] he chose to effectively cut welfare by £11bn in real terms.” Then there was the scandal over Sunak’s wife Akshata Murthy’s tax affairs. It was revealed in April that Murthy – the daughter of Indian IT billionaire Narayana Murthy – has claimed non-domicile status in the UK and continued to do so during her husband’s time as Chancellor, potentially saving her millions of pounds in tax over several years.

Less than a week after the news broke about Murthy’s non-dom status, Sunak and the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson were fined as part of the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into ‘partygate’. Reacting to the news, Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public. They must both resign.” Exclusive polling for LabourList in July revealed that almost half of UK adults opposed Sunak becoming Prime Minister because of the fine he received over partygate, including 39% of respondents who voted Conservative in 2019.

Labour’s accusation during the summer leadership contest that Sunak and Truss were “stooges of the Johnson administration” was entirely accurate, and Sunak must not be given any opportunity to distance himself from his own or his party’s record in government. Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden stated plainly on the broadcast round this morning: “The problem is the Conservative party.” No amount of reshuffling at the top will repair the damage caused by 12 years of Tory failure. Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning.