Path to failure for Britain’s oldest political party

High-stake political gambles and gimmicks led to a possible annihilation of the Tories. Photo: Bloomberg

By the time Rishi Sunak became the new British Prime Minister, the British had enough of the Conservative chaos. This endless change of prime ministers and other senior ministers made the country's global reputation untenable. 

Public services in Britain are crumbling, affordable housing is a distant reality and the cost of living crisis is still causing huge stress to so many families. Britain's councils and universities are running out of cash.

Sunak inherited many of the current problems from his predecessors but Sunak himself has failed to demonstrate strong leadership. Sunak dragged his party further to the extremes. 

His position on climate change, the Middle East, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and ethnic minorities seemed hazy. Overall, the Conservative Party lost its momentum.

One prime minister after another, austerity, Brexit, chaos in government, decline of public services, obscure foreign policy, reckless economic and fiscal policy, the list of Tory failures goes on and on. 

The Conservative Party under Rishi Sunak was searching for its soul and faced an existential threat from the newly formed far-right populist Reform Party. Now that the Labour Party under Keir Starmer is in power, it will be of utmost importance for the Tories to reflect on their past 14 years. 

Strong opposition voices are important for democratic accountability. The current abyss of the Conservative Party casts a serious doubt on its ability to do so. 

This 4 July general election is a watershed moment for the Tories. Whoever leads the Conservative party after 4 July must bring it to the sensible and pragmatic centrist ground, or else it may be taken over by the ultra-right-wingers. 

Sketch: TBS.

Dr Adnan Pavel is an academic and political commentator based in the UK. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.