My Tory colleagues have no idea what Sunak stands for

Each of the party leaders has launched their general election campaign and I am afraid it doesn’t bode well for my Party.

It isn’t Labours 20 point plus lead that concerns me , it isn’t even the dozens and dozens of colleagues who have decided not to stand again and the whiff of desertion that that brings , it isn’t even that some of my colleagues seem less focused on the run up to the general election and more on the post-election Conservative leadership race, for me it is the lack of clarity even at this late stage as to what Sunak stands for.

Being drenched in the rain outside Number 10 as D Ream lyrics blared out, the PM called the general election, and this was a moment that could have been used to lay out his vision, instead Sunak was literally and figuratively drowned out.

Clinging to Covid as a high point of achievement in a 14-year record of a Conservative Party in charge at a time the Covid inquiry is still ongoing and during a week when the most senior Civil servant is in the dock answering questions about the chaotic government decision making at that time, appeared detached.

Speaking about the economy in ways that are simply not being felt by the public felt out of step. Championing lower taxes as an achievement rang hollow.

And choosing to pitch the need for stability in Britain against the so called “dangerous world” created by Russia, China, Immigrants, and Islamists as opposed to our role in Brexit, economic Armageddon and culture wars felt arrogant and hypocritical.

There is no doubt an incoming government will be inheriting a tough brief both domestically and on the world stage.

Early predictions are that the current economic news is the best it will get this year and may have been a trigger for the surprise general election announcement.

From Ukraine to Gaza foreign policy demands will not just be about manging current conflicts but positioning ourselves as either a guardian of an international rules-based order or one of the chief architects in its destruction. From the International Court of Justice to the International Criminal Court and indeed even the very fundamentals of the European Convention on Human Rights are all apparently fair game.

And with the infected blood scandal, the post office scandal, and the ongoing inquiries on Covid and wider procurement fraud how government functions is under the spotlight.

More than ever, we need to know what leaders stand for, the values they are rooted in and the principles that will shape their decisions on the big issues.

Sunak starts on the back foot but interestingly because of that has very little to lose. He became Prime Minister by default and has already made his mark on history for simply being the UKs first Prime Minister of colour.

He will forever have UK PM as a line on his CV, and his life will play out amongst the world's great, good and wealthy irrespective of any future Office of State he holds in the United Kingdom. I predict if he loses the election, he will stand down from Parliament soon after.

So Sunak should be “bold”, the word he seems to use a lot, distance himself from the rampant racism that has dogged his premiership, step away from the culture wars, acknowledge the Conservative mistakes of the past and lay out what a Sunak government would mean for a country that desperately needs to grow with economic benefits felt across the country.

Starmer on the other hand starts with a 20-point lead and has everything to lose, something the Theresa May 2017 general election proved is entirely plausible.

I sympathise with what an insider at labour HQ told me a few weeks ago that the biggest challenge to a labour victory at the general election, which at that time was anticipated to be later in the year, was a mindset that labour would lose. The fear of not putting a foot wrong is understandable especially when labour is so close to power but the downside of it is that solid Starmer could feel more like cautious Keir.

Voters who up to now have struggled to hear what he stands for may fail to connect.

Labour may still win by default, but the country deserves better than default. It needs to vote decisively yes and decisively no for a vision of a future laid out clearly, sincerely and with integrity by the two men who seek to lead us.

Anas Sarwar interestingly at Labours general election launch in Scotland said this election Labour would answer - what change means, why it matters, and what difference it will make to your family.

I also hope that Starmer and Sunak tell us who they are and what makes them the right men to lead Britain at this time.

27/05/2024