23 Sep, 2023

Rishi Sunak new UK’s Prime Minister

By Dr Vishnu Bisram 24 Oct, 2022 11 mins read 1,535 views

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Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) of Boris Johnson ’s Cabinet, before he resigned igniting a wave of resignations that toppled Johnson, has won the leadership race to become U.K.’s next prime minister. He replaces Liz Truss who resigned last week after defeating Rishi Sunak for the leadership of the Conservative Party in a membership vote in September. Truss resigned after party members rebelled against her leadership, triggering a vote among Conservative MPs to choose the next PM.

Sunak declared his candidacy for the job on Sunday, stating that he wanted to fix the economy. By Monday morning, Sunak had gained the support of 194 Conservatives, leaving the others short of crossing the minimum threshold to have a chance of victory.

Initially, three MPs declared their candidacy for leadership – a Black female MP and Minister of Government who withdrew after she failed to gain traction among MPs. Support from some 100 Conservative MPs was required to propel a candidacy for the top position. Another MP, a White female, Penny Mordaunt, declared her candidacy but also failed to gain currency. Sunak had the support of 194 Conservative MPs. Mordaunt could only muster 25. Boris Johnson who had resigned in June cut short his vacation in the Dominican Republic and flew to London and declared his candidacy to return as PM. But he could only muster support from 58 MPs and withdrew from the race. Recognizing that she could not meet the minimum threshold of support from 100 MPs, Mordaunt withdrew from the contest leaving Sunak as the only candidate. He was declared winner at the deadline hour. His victory comes on Diwali Day, an auspicious day and the largest festival for Hindus globally. Sunak and his family are practicing Hindus.

Sunak will not be invited by the King (Charles III) to form a new government on Tuesday.

Sunak had resigned from Johnson’s cabinet over morality, triggering the collapse of the government. Johnson announced he would never forgive Sunak, saying he would support anyone but Sunak as his successor. Months earlier, he favored Sunak Sunak as his successor.

Sunak was very popular among Conservative MPs, winning support from a majority of them as opposed to Liz Truss who trailed Sunak among MPs. But Sunak trailed Truss among Conservative members who choose the party leader. Truss narrowly defeated Sunak among the party members in the September vote. Truss formed a cabinet with Sunak and his supporters. Sunak had indicated that he could not serve in the cabinet as his economic philosophy was different from hers. He warned that her proposed economic policy would not work and would lead to loss of confidence by the business sector and trigger chaos. He was right. Truss policy led to economic disasters. Her Chancellor of the Exchequer, an Afro British, resigned after a few weeks at the job. And then two weeks later, after a rebellion among Conservative MPs and her inability pass legislation, she stepped down.

Sunak, 42, is Britain's first nonwhite prime minister. He is of Indian descent. Both of his parents born in East Africa. They were unwelcomed in Africa and migrated to Britain. Sunak did extremely well in school attending the most prestigious public school and universities. He served as Johnson’s ex-chancellor of the Exchequer, or treasury chief and now will be PM.

Dr Vishnu Bisram

Dr Vishnu Bisram is Guyanese born who received his primary and secondary education in Guyana and tertiary education in the US and India. He is a fourth generation Indian. His great grandparents from both his mother and father’s sides were born in India -- Gurbatore from Ghaizpur, Amru from Azamgarh, Sau from Chapra, Mangri from Mau, Bhuri and Bhura Singh from Bharatpur, among others. They all came at different times to then British Guiana (1880s and 1890s) to work on sugar plantations as indentured laborers. After serving ten years, they were freed laborers. They remained on the colony rather than returned to India, married and had children. They used the savings from indentureship to purchase landholdings to cement their ties to their adopted land. They were not given free land. Vishnu Bisram is ninth of twelve children of Gladys and Baldat, rural farmers, she also was a seamstress and he a taylor and they attended to a kitchen garden as well. Vishnu attended the St Joseph Anglican (called English) primary school from 1966 to 1972. In 1972, he passed the annual nationwide Common Entrance exam winning a scholarship place to attend the government Berbice High School in New Amsterdam, some 17 miles from his home village of Ankerville, Port Mourant. He declined the placement scholarship and opted instead for the private Chandisingh High School to which his family pad to pay a tuition. He entered for eight subjects at the Cambridge University Exam in 1977. Vishnu migrated to the USA in 1977 to further his studies. He enrolled at the City College of City University of New York September that year at age 17, studying Bio-Chemistry and also completing a major in Political Science. After his BSc in Bio-Chem, he pursued graduate studies in International Relations earning a MA. He went on to complete multiple post graduate degrees including doctorates in Economics, Sociology, History, Political Science and Educational Administration. Dr Bisram taught for over forty years in various subjects in the US. He also served as a newspaper reporter and columnist for over four decades and is a well-known pollster in the Caribbean region. He is a specialist on the Indian diaspora traveling extensively around the globe to research and write about Indian communities. He published countless articles on various subjects in the mass media, journals, and books. He also organized international conferences on the Indian diaspora and presented papers at many conferences. He was a guest lecturer at universities in Mauritius, India, Fiji, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, USA, and other countries. He is a well regarded political analyst on American and Caribbean politics. He makes him home in Guyana, Trinidad, and America and travels frequently to India.