Kishwar Desai | A serious' leader in charge at No. 10... After some time, can Sunak bounce back?
Boris Johnson called it “Starmergeddon” — and tried to warn people against it!
But it appeared to be inevitable and it was. The exit polls from BBC handled by the psephology guru and political scientist Sir John Curtice were absolutely correct with just a tiny variation of the numbers. And Sir Keir Starmer was inside Number 10, as predicted, by the afternoon of July 5.
It has been a remarkable journey for the PM, who started life as the son of a toolmaker and a nurse, in an unremarkable British middle class household. He is a “real” person you can connect with —which is a relief after the past few years of Tory rule where it was assumed everyone was born entitled and born to rule. Humility has been in scarce supply — even if you were not born rich.
In Sir Keir we have a serious politician, without slick mannerisms and designer suits. His main strength is his unwavering belief that change for the greater good is possible. In fact, in four and half years, after moving from law into full time politics — he has managed to convert a shambolic party under Jeremy Corbyn into a winning machine. This is no mean achievement.
He has also reposed his faith in diversity — and in women, and for the first time Britain will have a female chancellor of the exchequer — Rachel Reeves. And the deputy PM is a woman — Angela Rayner. Altogether there will be more women MPs in the House of Commons , and even in the Labour Party.
Yes, he is charisma challenged — but today it is clear that the world needs leaders who are dedicated to social service and enter politics not because they want to become glib talking Prime Ministers — but because they have a dream to make the lives of others better.
And the fact that Mr Starmer won because he is sincere, thoughtful and hardworking and believes in sharing those values — makes one almost believe in politics once again!
Apart from the striking result — it was the slow and steady pace of vote counting which stood out last week— without EVMs. But given that the electorate is just about 50 million, a fraction of the Indian electorate, it can all be done in a day. It is old fashioned paper ballots to be stuffed inside boxes which are opened after 10 pm and counted all night. You don’t get the result till late the next day. But BBC gives its exit poll results once the polling booths are shut at 10 pm.
In every election there are symbolic images. There was the Mondeo Man (Mondeo was a new model of a car modelled on the ‘Mini’). The person driving such a car was supposed to have voted for Tony Blair in hundreds. This time the pollsters have discovered the Whitby Woman who is between 55 and 64. Pre-poll she was undecided as were 38 per cent of voters , But I suspect that she must have voted for Sir Keir, as he is the kind of steady old fashioned bloke you want looking after the country.
But yes, there was disillusionment with politics — and many expressed their anger by not voting at all, or by voting for parties other than Labour or Conservative.
So were we sorry to see Rishi Sunak, our very own “son-in-law” of India leave Number 10? Of course, his reaching there is a great achievement and he has already made his place in history as the first Asian Prime Minister of the UK. He is young enough to try again for the top post at a later time, so nothing has been lost and experience has been gained. Of course, the Conservatives are in complete disarray and they will have choose a new leader — let’s hope, as in India, the Opposition gets its act together! Though right now it appears to be riven with infighting over the election results and the struggle to choose the next leader.
Rishi’s tenure may have temporarily closed the door for other Asian aspirants for the top job such as Priti Patel, or Suella Braverman — as the Tories may want a fresh face to battle the “Starmergeddon”. So will it be Kemi Badenoch or Tom Tugendhat?
But I have always maintained that the best part of his brief tenure was that the world got to see Akshata Murty, who has been low key and supportive as the No. 10 wife— and her own personality has also blossomed. She showed up wearing a very bold striped dress while Rishi gave his farewell speech. It was a defiant move — (I thought it was meant to be the colours of the British flag , though others disagreed) — and it sent a message: Defeated but not down . And she carried a very big umbrella to ensure that her husband would not be look overwhelmed and drowned (like last time) in case it rained. That also sent a signal that she is prepared — come what may.
Fortunately — the one thing that went right for Rishi Sunak is that it did not rain.
