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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is 7am.

The British Government is in a state of utter chaos and the decline of the country’s political leadership is threatening the welfare of ordinary citizens.

Now, the government has turned to an unlikely figure to steer them out of it: Rishi Sunak.

Sunak is a historic Prime Minister, the richest MP in parliament, the first non-white prime minister of Britain, and the youngest in two hundred years. But will he be ousted too, and will Britain continue to lurch from one crisis to the next?

Today, world editor for The Saturday Paper, Jonathan Pearlman, on how Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of a broken Britain.

It’s Friday, October 28.

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RUBY:

Jonathan, this week the UK got a new Prime Minister once again. This time it's Rishi Sunak and his ascent, it's happened in one of the most chaotic ways imaginable after months of turmoil.

So, how is it that Britain now has a third Prime Minister in just three months?

JONATHAN:

It's incredible, really. The government in the UK has been in complete chaos. Some commentators have called it the worst government they've ever had. The ruling Conservative Party, some of their own MPs have said that the party is facing an existential threat and that this could be the death of the party. And it's really quite remarkable, given that they hold an enormous majority at the moment.

The chaos began with Brexit, and then I suppose the next round of chaos began under Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. His rule ended with a whole string of scandals. But most notably, these gatherings on Downing Street and in government offices, despite the COVID restrictions.

Boris Johnson lied about them and he'd been seen in photographs attending when he’d said he hadn’t. Then there were constant resignations and eventually Johnson accepted that he had to resign reluctantly in July, and the party went on to a new, drawn out internal vote to elect a new leader, which happened in September.

RUBY:

And it was actually Liz Truss who won that first internal vote, and became the Prime Minister in September. So why did the Conservative Party choose Liz Truss at that moment?

JONATHAN:

So, the Tories have shifted to a sort of rank and file vote. They also have a vote of MPs to select two candidates. But now it's the party members that vote on the leader and there are about 170,000 of them and they tend to be older and wealthier than the general public and even than the standard Tory voters. And they liked what Truss was offering.

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“...to win the next election. We need to deliver, deliver, and deliver for the British people...”

JONATHAN:

She was offering big tax cuts and she began to take a lead over Rishi Sunak in the polls.

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“As Prime Minister, I will lead a government committed to core conservative principles. Low taxes, a firm grip on spending, driving growth in the economy, and giving people the opportunity to achieve anything they want...”

JONATHAN:

Rishi Sunak, at the time, it should be noted, warned that these cuts would force up interest rates, they’d hit mortgages, that they were dangerous at the time of rising inflation in Britain. He described Truss’ plan as a fairy tale.

Archival tape – Rishi Sunak:

“It means that those of you that have mortgages will see your interest rates go up higher and higher. So I don't think the responsible thing to do right now is launch into some unfunded spree of borrowing and more debt that will just make inflation worse. It will make the problem longer.”

JONATHAN:

But ultimately Rishi Sunak was unable to convince the members of the Conservative Party and Truss won comfortably and became Prime Minister.

RUBY:

She did, but not for very long – Liz Truss ended up being the shortest serving Prime Minister in history. She held power for 44 days in total before being forced to resign. And her failure is largely down to the fact that she actually did what she promised to do and what the Conservative Party seemingly voted her in to do - deliver these tax cuts…

JONATHAN:

Yes, that's right. It was a very, very short stint in office. And it almost seems shorter than it was because the first few weeks of her rule were just completely dominated by the death of the Queen.

So the first few weeks we didn't really hear that much about Liz Truss and then suddenly she came out with this mini budget, these included tax cuts which were unfunded, and measures to cap energy bills. And she presented this plan and it just caused complete economic turmoil.

Archival tape – News reporter:

“While we were sleeping last night, the UK economy faced a major financial crisis, only averted by an extraordinary intervention by the Bank of England.”

JONATHAN:

The pound sank to its lowest level against the US dollar in history. Mortgage rates skyrocketed. There were concerns about the viability of British pension funds.

Archival tape – News reporter:

“Some are claiming the UK came close to a Lehman style collapse. What's actually happened? In the simplest terms. Last week, the new government's astonishingly large tax cuts and plans to borrow sparked a collapse in the pound and surge in government borrowing costs.”

JONATHAN:

It just became clear that this plan was completely untenable. So, Truss and her allies for several days tried to avoid the media.

Archival tape – News reporter:

“Behind the scenes are trying to steady nerves, but Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng haven't been seen in public for days and many are wondering if the Chancellor can survive this.”

JONATHAN:

Liz Truss then did this awful round of interviews with just sort of local media, which didn't work at all to present any convincing message.

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“It’s also about how we can grow the slice of the pie so that everyone can benefit.”

Archival tape – BBC Interviewer:

“By borrowing more and putting our mortgages up.”

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“We need to borrow more this winter for the energy crisis that we're facing. And I think that was the right thing to do, which is-...”

Archival tape – BBC Stoke:

“We're going to spend more in mortgage fees under what you've done based on the predictions than we would have saved with energy.”

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“I don't think anybody is arguing that we shouldn't have acted on energy.”

JONATHAN:

She then blamed her chancellor and close ally, Kwasi Kwarteng. She then fired the chancellor….

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“Today, I have asked Jeremy Hunt to become the new chancellor.”

JONATHAN:

…Ditched the entire plan….

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“...parts of our mini-Budget went further and faster than the markets were expecting. So the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change.”

JONATHAN:

…But at that point, I think it was clear that she was not going to be able to hold on.

Archival tape – Labor leader, Keir Starmer

“I've got the list here. 45 pence tax cut, gone. Corporation tax cut gone. 23 pence tax cut, gone. The energy freeze, gone. Tax free shopping, gone. Economic credibility, gone. And supposed best friend, the former chancellor? He's gone as well. They're all gone. So why is she still here?”

JONATHAN:

And then days of political chaos followed. There was one day when she didn't show up to Parliament for Prime Minister's questions.

Archival tape – Penny Mordaunt:

“Well, the Prime Minister is not under a desk… I can assure the House, I can assure the House, with regret, that she is not here for a very good reason…”

JONATHAN:

There were chaotic scenes as the party tried to organise itself for just a fairly standard vote in the chamber over fracking legislation.

You know, we saw these usually kind of reserved British television presenters who just couldn't find enough adjectives to describe the chaos.

Archival tape – News Anchor:

“There's confusion in the commons tonight over whether MPs were manhandled…”

Archival tape – News Anchor:

“Wow. Okay. Yes. Well, I mean, those who have served in government.”

Archival tape – News Anchor:

“I've not known you to be speechless.”

Archival tape – News Anchor:

“With shock at what unfolded last night."

JONATHAN:

The Labour Party was calling for an election, but there was really no no incentive for the Tories to effectively hold an election and hand over power to Labour. So, eventually it became clear that Truss was going to have to resign and that the party was going to need a new leader.

Archival tape – Liz Truss:

“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King, to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”

RUBY:

And that new leader is Rishi Sunak. So, Jonathan, it seems like what’s happened here is the Conservative Party has now chosen the candidate that they initially rejected to take over after their first preference crashed and burned.

JONATHAN:

Yeah, that's right. The party MPs had backed Sunak's in the initial vote against Liz Truss, but I think MPs at this point recognised that he was really the only viable choice amongst the contestants.

Johnson made a very short tilt at the leadership and it became clear that he was not going to be able to unite the party. And so Sunak won the leadership without any contest.

So, there's huge challenges ahead for him. The party is still divided and reeling. There doesn't seem to be any clear plan for solving the economic mess that Sunak now faces.

And there's not much time really to avoid looming economic downturn as well as, you know, soaring energy prices that the British government and the British public now face.

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RUBY:

Jonathan, the UK Conservative Party has now chosen Rishi Sunak to be its leader and he's been sworn in as Prime Minister. So, let's talk a little bit about who he actually is.

He's the first person of colour to be a British Prime Minister. He's also one of the youngest and is quite wealthy as well, I understand. So what else do we need to know about him?

JONATHAN:

Yeah, quite wealthy is probably an understatement, but he is the first Indian-origin Prime Minister of Britain. He's the first Hindu Prime Minister, and he's the youngest since 1812 at age 42. Funnily enough, we know quite a bit about his upbringing because at age 21, him and his family appeared in a BBC documentary about Britain's rising middle class.

Archival tape – Rishi Sunak:

“I have friends who aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class. I have friends who are, you know, working class, but I'm not working class, but I mix and match. And then I get to see kids from an inner city state school and tell them, you know, to apply to Oxford and talk to them about people like me.”

JONATHAN:

That interview has come back to haunt him a little bit, because he came from a privileged background, even before he became one of Britain's wealthiest people.

Rishi Sunak and his wife are worth an estimated $1.3 billion in Australian dollars. That is more than King Charles. And this has caused some political problems. There were questions earlier this year about his wife's apparent tax avoidance. It's also, you know, just an interesting choice of leader, really, to have this incredibly wealthy leader as Prime Minister at a time when Britons are really hurting from just inflation that they haven't had in years and cost of living increases that they haven't had in years.

Rishi Sunak has tried at various times to sort of present himself as relatively ordinary and showing some understanding of what ordinary Britons are going through.

Archival tape – News tape:

“He said his big focus will be on the nation's finances but has also promised a stronger NHS, better schools, and to restore people's confidence in the government.”

JONATHAN:

That's really going to be one of his biggest tests, whether he can not just show that he understands, but deliver policies that address the growing economic pain that Britons are under right now.

Archival tape – Rishi Sunak:

“I will work day in and day out to deliver for you. Trust is earned, and I will earn yours.”

RUBY:

And so how does it seem that Rishi Sunak is going to try and approach these challenges – and hold onto a Prime Ministership that’s become a revolving door. I mean, will he manage to do what Liz Truss couldn't, which is, I suppose, hold the party together and lead the country?

JONATHAN:

So, he apparently told the party immediately after becoming leader that it needs to unite or die. He also needs then to deliver some stability to Britain, and Britain's economy. He has also, you know, signalled a very hard line on immigration. He's reappointed the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, who has supported the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, and really pushed for that. And the other challenge that he faces, I think, is that he's inexperienced. He's only been an MP for seven years. It's not a great deal of time to understand and develop the type of political acumen that might be needed to bring together the party at a time when it's this deeply divided.

It's a difficult task ahead, but I think we've seen from his early comments that at least he's showing signs of understanding that and understanding that Liz Truss’ economic plan was, as he said, a mistake and that the party now needs to move on.

RUBY:

Hmm. The big question, I suppose is, is how possible that is. And when you reflect on the last three or four months in the UK, what does all of this say to you about just how far politics has sunk and whether or not it's really possible for the country to lift itself out of this race to the bottom that the Conservative Party has found itself?

What sense do you get of that and of the mood in the UK right now?

JONATHAN:

Yeah, so the Tories have been in office for 12 years and we've seen in Australia as well that rot can sometimes start to set in when parties have been in for around a decade or more. But it is a really difficult time for Britain.

I think that some of the planks that just give a nation stability and certainty are all kind of flimsy. In the UK at the moment, its ties to the EU are still unclear. Its ability even to just hold together and keep Scotland as part of the UK remains uncertain. Its economic future is looking really bleak right now. The average energy bill in Britain could be over £5,000 per year. Inflation is at a 40 year high, so over 10%. There are estimates that one-in-seven Britons are skipping meals at the moment. There's a war on the continent in which the UK is deeply involved and deeply committed to supporting Ukraine. It is still facing chaos from Brexit. Still a lot of unanswered questions. Its energy security is uncertain…

And then on top of all of that, you've got this party, which is just kind of riven by factions, differences over personality, differences over the future of the party. I think that it's going to be a very difficult job for Rishi Sunak to try to sort of address these problems, keep the party united and deliver some stability to Britain over the next few years.

RUBY:

Jonathan, thank you so much for your time.

JONATHAN:

Thanks so much Ruby.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today,

The trial of Bruce Lehrmann, the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, has ended in a mistrial.

The jury had been deliberating for more than a week when it was discovered that one of the jurors had brought in documents that weren’t presented in court.

The judge presiding over the case said the outside material gave her no choice but to declare a mistrial, with the date for a retrial set for February next year.

And in the United States, Elon Musk visited the headquarters of Twitter in San Francisco, as the deadline for him to finalise his purchase of the social media company approaches.

Musk, the world’s richest man, made an offer to buy Twitter earlier this year for $44 billion US dollars, before attempting to back out.

It appears that Musk has now decided to go through with the purchase. If he doesn’t close the deal before the end of today, Twitter and Musk will face court in November.

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper.

It’s produced by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon, Alex Tighe, Zoltan Fecso, and Cheyne Anderson.

Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Brian Campeau mixes the show, our editor is Scott Mitchell.

Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

I’m Ruby Jones, see you next week.

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