Rishi Sunak Has Had A Torrid First 100 Days As Britains Leader. But The Conservatives Might Not Be Doomed

Rishi Sunak marked his first 100 days in office as British prime minister earlier this week. In a way, the very fact that Sunak was able to accomplish this goal at all was cause for celebration. Liz Truss had only served as prime minister for 49 days when he succeeded her last September, making her the shortest-serving leader in British history. Truss managed to bring the government's poll numbers even lower during her brief, tumultuous tenure in Downing Street than those of her predecessor, Boris Johnson, who will always be regarded as the first prime minister found to have breached the law while in office. Consequently, Sunak's survival is commendable despite the fact that not all Conservative Party members or lawmakers find him to be popular.An accomplishment in and of itself is 100 days. That does not, however, imply that his first 100 days have been a success. The UK has had some of the worst public sector strikes in recent memory since Sunak moved into Downing Street. The largest single day of walkouts in more than ten years, according to unions, saw half a million employees throughout the nation go on strike this week, stopping schools, postponing university lectures, and halting much of the train network. The cherished National Health Service of the nation is on the verge of disintegrating, millions are struggling with a cost-of-living crisis, and the IMF predicts that the UK will have the only contracting G7 economy in 2023.The scandals are another. Following days of criticism over his personal tax arrangements, Sunak was compelled to fire Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi, the chairman of his political party, this weekend for a "severe infringement" of the Ministerial Code.Following allegations that Zahawi had paid a penalty as part of a purported £4.8 million ($5.96 million) settlement with tax officials, the PM had asked his ethics adviser to look into the matter. Zahawi was charged with neglecting to report a disagreement with tax officials. It is also generally anticipated that the PM would be compelled to fire Dominic Raab, his deputy, who is under investigation for allegedly intimidating civil officials on several occasions over a period of years.

Raab insists he has done properly and rejects any misconduct.Continually act professionally The PM's judgement, particularly toward those he considers to be loyal, is being questioned as other members of Sunak's inner circle come under examination as well.While marginally higher than when he first entered office, his ruling Conservative Party's poll ratings are typically 20 points lower than those of the main opposition Labour Party. His own approval ratings are likewise far from stellar. Given these poll results and the fact that the Conservatives have been in power since 2010, it would seem logical to believe that the Labour Party would easily win the upcoming election in 2024. Sunak's major responsibility should be to lessen the looming defeat and provide his party with the strongest foundation from which to recover. There are reasons to be happy, though, and even to think that the Conservatives may still win despite everything that appears to be going wrong for them on paper.the following presidential vote. Commentators refer to the unexpected victory of John Major for the Conservatives in the 1992 general election, which many believed would go to Labour under Neil Kinnock. This election still haunts the left-of-center party.

The electoral system in the UK may still favour the Conservatives to the point where a Labour Party majority is prevented, or, even worse, where the Labour Party ends up with less seats in parliament than the Conservatives. Whatever party receives the most votes in each of the 650 parliamentary seats, regardless of the proportion of the public vote, wins the seat outright under the "first past the post" election system. In a typical election, the party with the most seats establishes the government. Passing legislation is significantly easier if they have a majority in the legislature as a whole. This effectively implies that not every vote is equal. While a constituency with 90,000 people may elect a Labour MP with a sizable majority, a seat with 50,000 voters might elect a Conservative MP with a thin majority.Further complicating matters, a boundary review is now underway, which involves redrawing the UK's map and altering the makeup of certain seats-often to the Conservatives' favour. According to Rob Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, "Labour's problem right now is that too many of its voters are concentrated in major, urban locations." Ford continues, "Even though Labour won more seats in both of those elections -2010 and 2015-they actually had a greater vote share at the 2019 election, which saw them lose a number of seats. In the past, Labour has also placed a great emphasis on obtaining seats in Scotland, a strength that was completely destroyed by the first Scottish vote for independence in 2014.

The independent-supporting Scottish National Party received 45% of the vote despite losing the referendum. In contrast to the unionist vote, which was divided, the independence vote coalesced around the SNP during the general election the following year, and the SNP eliminated nearly all of Labour's Scottish seats.A few months later, Conservative MPs were openly declaring that they thought many of them would lose their seats at the upcoming election and that the party was doomed. Some people called media outlets and think groups to get career guidance. When assessing the party's prospects, one serving cabinet official sobbed to CNN at the annual Conservative Party conference in October. In contrast, at the Labour Party's annual conference a week prior, there was unmistakably a feeling of a government-in-waiting. Since then, a lot has changed, and Labour candidates are increasingly eager to acknowledge the need for jobs. There is typically a shift back towards the opposition between now and election day.Chris Curtis, a pollster with Opinium Research and a Labour candidate in the next election, claims that government, especially when that administration is Conservative. "Momentum is important in politics, and I'm concerned that we could lose it due to the unrealistic expectations placed on this year's municipal elections." He continues, "We must continue to work and cannot get complacent."

Politicians frequently ignore discussions of momentum and their own feelings as "bubble talk." This bubble does, however, matter. It strengthens party unity and discipline if individuals in Westminster are feeling more optimistic about their chances of winning an election. All of this is not to indicate that Sunak won't have a difficult time. Ford observes that "politics is volatile right now" and that the Conservative Party has grown accustomed to "panicking and slamming the eject button" when it comes to party leaders. Sunak is less well-liked than the Conservative leaders who were in government in 1992 and 2015, despite the fact that some are finding solace in the fact that the Conservatives previously won elections that were widely predicted to lose. The prime minister can think back on his first 100 days in Take solace in the knowledge that he was given the keys to an automobile that was going down a precipice and had a brick on the gas. Even while the automobile might not be back on the road just yet, many members of his party are content with the fact that it is not yet a burning wreck.