COVID-19 UK Political Analysis by Tim Hames – 10th July 2020
Download a PDF of this articleRishi’s Rulebook. A very strong Chancellor in very strange conditions.
A year ago today Rishi Sunak was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government. That is about as close as you get to ‘Minister for Paperclips’ in the UK system of government. He is now not only the Chancellor, but about the most popular figure within his own party and the public at large in the entire administration. If Boris Johnson were to fall suddenly under the proverbial bus, Mr Sunak would start as the red-hot favourite to succeed him. In his statement in the House of Commons on Wednesday he also hinted at numbers for spending and borrowing that would have been utterly unimaginable six months ago. Oh, and his father-in-law is a billionaire. A class act, clearly.