Take your mind back to the chaos of 2020, the country’s outlook was low, and fear was running high as we had been plunged into its first lockdown. We were rightly worried about our jobs, our businesses – our livelihoods. It was clear that urgent action was needed, and our government was going to need to take bold and precedent measures if we were to come out of this in one piece.
Enter, Rishi Sunak. Rishi was only one month into the role of Chancellor when lockdown began, and it was his duty to ensure the country had the appropriate financial support during this time. So, whilst business had been forced to close their doors, Rishi and his team were working behind the scenes to ease the pain on the British public. During lockdown, Rishi pioneered successful economy saving measures such as the Furlough scheme, which allowed employees to retain an income, Eat Out to Help Out, which restored confidence in the damaged hospitality business, and personally allowed me to make far too many visits to Nandos, there was also the Job Retention Bonus, which successfully incentivised employers to retain their staff during the pandemic.
During this time, Rishi Sunak was able to connect with the public like no other politician had before, his work and start-up spirit resonated with the British public and his hard work was recognised. Rishi cut red tape, saved jobs and at the same time managed to hold a good relationship with the public. Rishi’s work even caused Labour to have a reshuffle in-order to counter him, having to bring in a new Shadow Chancellor, given the previous one was not up to the task – and I’m sure we agree the replacement is no improvement.
And what goes up, must come down. No tax-rise is popular, and when the size of the state is expanded, so must the tax burden, at least until the spending of the government is accounted off for. Rishi Sunak is the candidate who’s being realistic about government spending and taxation, and of course as a Thatcherite he wants to bring taxes down – but we must get our affairs in order beforehand. Spending without the matching taxation, is simply setting is up for borrowing, and borrowed money is just new taxes waiting to come.
And of course, we must not let this contest turn into a mudslinging blue-on-blue assault, we all know that Liz Truss is a capable minister, and Penny Mordaunt is an effective communicator – but Rishi Sunak is the candidate who’s proved himself as both. The public can see that, and it’s my belief the membership will be able to as well.
It’s also no secret that Labour fear Rishi Sunak, out of all the candidates he ranks the most popular according to YouGov. And according to Ipsos polling, he’s the only candidate who beats Keir Starmer in a straight contest. The Labour party fear a dynamic young candidate, son of a pharmacist, whose parents migrated from East Africa – because his story is what Conservatism represents – working hard pays off, no matter how humble your background.
