. Sometimes the past few weeks have seemed like this election played out in real life. The 'Sensibles' of all parties regarded Boris Johnson as irredeemably Silly and thought Liz Truss was hardly better. There now seems to be widespread relief at the installation of what is clearly a Sensible government, with capable ministers, effective communicators, and familiar policies rooted in unexciting conservative verities. I admit I largely share that relief. The country needs to move on from the confusion of the past year, and get time to catch its breath. Once Truss's position had become untenable, Rishi Sunak was clearly the right man for the job. His task, for now anyway, is to calm the frenzy, build a programme that has something for all wings of the party, and get the Tories attacking Labour once again – an attractive task given the risible thinness of Labour's policies. He has made a good start on this. Talking to a range of party activists earlier this week, I found them buoyed by his robust performance at Prime Minister's Questions and generally happy to have the show back on the road. Of course, his emerging policy programme, based on the 2019 manifesto, will require everyone to compromise. Personally I am not particularly happy with the renewed fracking ban or the seeming go-slow on the EU law review, but no doubt others will have to compromise on other things before long too. But, as he develops his programme, one problem the Prime Minister will soon face is that too many of his Sensible cheerleaders in fact believe some remarkably Silly things. Many Sensibles believe that staying closely aligned to the EU single market will kickstart growth —){kind=link}
The appointment of Suella Braverman is a crucial sign that Rishi Sunak sees that the status quo is unsustainable
Fans of Monty Python may remember the “Election Night Special” sketch. A spoof of the clunky election reporting of the time, it satirises party debate by turning the election into a contest between the “Sensible Party” and the “Silly Party” (with its offshoots the “Slightly Silly” and “Very Silly” parties on the fringe).
Sometimes the past few weeks have seemed like this election played out in real life. The “Sensibles” of all parties regarded Boris Johnson as irredeemably Silly and thought Liz Truss was hardly better. There now seems to be widespread relief at the installation of what is clearly a Sensible government, with capable ministers, effective communicators, and familiar policies rooted in unexciting conservative verities.
I admit I largely share that relief. The country needs to move on from the confusion of the past year, and get time to catch its breath. Once Truss’s position had become untenable, Rishi Sunak was clearly the right man for the job. His task, for now anyway, is to calm the frenzy, build a programme that has something for all wings of the party, and get the Tories attacking Labour once again – an attractive task given the risible thinness of Labour’s policies.
He has made a good start on this. Talking to a range of party activists earlier this week, I found them buoyed by his robust performance at Prime Minister’s Questions and generally happy to have the show back on the road.