Political positions of Rishi Sunak

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Rishi Sunak is a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. He has been Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022; after the 2024 general election in July 2024, he became Leader of the Opposition. The first British Asian to hold those offices, Sunak has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond and Northallerton, previously Richmond (Yorks), since 2015. He is the most recent Conservative Party prime minister.

Sunak has been described as a moderate within his party with a technocratic or managerial leadership style.[1] According to Euronews, Sunak is "frequently perceived as a pragmatist and as belonging to the centre-ground of the Conservative Party".[2] He opposed the economic policies of Liz Truss and predicted they would result in economic damage,[2] and although described as a fellow Thatcherite, he is viewed as less economically liberal than Truss.[3] In April 2023, Sunak's perception as a centrist contrasted with descriptions of his government's policies on transgender and migration issues as being socially conservative, with Jessica Elgot of The Guardian describing Sunak as "perhaps the most socially conservative PM of his generation".[4]

Robert Shrimsley of the Financial Times described Sunak as someone whose "easy manner, career in global finance and ethnic background might suggest a more cosmopolitan conservative", even though he is socially conservative and pragmatic.[5] Meanwhile, the New Statesman described Sunak as uneasily straddling both liberal-conservative and national-conservative instincts.[6] In July 2023, The Economist described him as "the most right-wing Conservative prime minister since Margaret Thatcher".[7]

  1. ^ "Rishi Sunak, a very Tory kind of technocrat". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b Carlo, Andrea (24 October 2022). "Who is soon-to-be UK PM Rishi Sunak and what does he stand for?". euronews. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  3. ^ Dutton, Jack (24 October 2022). "What are Rishi Sunak's political beliefs?". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  4. ^ Elgot, Jessica (18 April 2023). "Why Rishi Sunak may be the most socially conservative PM of his generation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Rishi Sunak's big idea is a nation that is more like him". Financial Times. 26 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  6. ^ "The new Tory tribes". New Statesman. 19 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  7. ^ "No, really. Rishi Sunak is a right-winger". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.