Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O’Flynn

Is Rishi Sunak any good at politics?

It’s time for the Chancellor to step up

Rishi Sunak (Photo: Getty)

Is Rishi Sunak any good at politics? In recent days Labour sources have been putting it about that they no longer fear the prospect of the Chancellor stepping up to take over from Boris Johnson if he is forced out by partygate.

According to one briefing to the left-wing New Statesman, Keir Starmer’s team has concluded that ‘Little Rishi’ is ‘crap at politics’ after observing his response to the cost-of-living crisis and now thinks that Liz Truss may prove a more formidable successor to Johnson in electoral terms at least.

With politics being surpassed only by espionage as a theatre for the use of misinformation and double-bluffs, it may be that Labour’s onslaught against Sunak indicates the very opposite – that in fact he really is the Tory they think they cannot beat and they are attempting to trash his ratings in the short-term.

But it is certainly true that since the advent of Rachel Reeves as shadow chancellor, Labour has closed the gap on perceived economic competence in the eyes of the electorate. Last spring the Tories led by 21 points, now the lead is down to just eight and that is before national insurance rises and energy bill increases hit.

Sunak must use the Budget as a political cudgel with which to beat the opposition to a pulp

Along with Starmer, Reeves has pushed an agenda depicting the Tories as wasteful on spending and biased in favour of the privileged few and against ordinary folk. So far, Sunak has failed to come up with a convincing riposte.

If he is ever to be regarded not merely as a talented figure whose fluency and confidence helped the British economy through the emergency phases of the Covid pandemic but also as an effective political Chancellor, then Sunak must challenge and change this narrative in his Budget expected on March 23rd.

His task will not merely be to show that the economy continues to surpass expectations under his stewardship and that he has a strategy for helping people through inflationary pressures, but also to take apart Labour’s plans for it.

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