Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The time was when many thought the British could not imagine life without their Crown and that their monarch would exist as long as the four kings survived on playing cards.
In the modern ‘Mother of Democracy,’ even the incumbent British Prime Minister might have become as indispensable! The difference between his supporters and opponents is often wafer thin.
This is true of outgoing PM Boris Johnson, journalist-turned-politician, as well: even now, he commands the support of 49 percent among the Tories. It is just like former US President Donald Trump, who, even after his defeat in the 2021 Presidential poll, continued to get support from 49 percent of Republican members.
After a landslide victory, Johnson became the British Prime Minister on July 24, 2019. However, after helming the United Kingdom from 10, Downing Street for less than three years, he announced his resignation on July 7, 2022, because of a spate of controversies. He is awaiting his successor to relieve him on September 5.
But nearly half of the Tories, members of his Conservative Party, trust neither of the two probable successors—Liz Truss, 47, and Rishi Sunak,42—and want to bring Boris Johnson, 58, back in the saddle, the media reported on Monday.
Fresh surveys in the ruling Conservative Party revealed that swing voters have shown less trust in Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak and wished they did not oust Johnson from the office.
These voters in marginalized constituencies believe the Tory MPs damaged the reputation of the Conservative Party by ousting Johnson.
At least 49 percent of Tory supporters still prefer Johnson over Liz or Sunak.
Die-hard Tories sympathize with him and believe Johnson faced unprecedented problems. He had to deal with the pressing global crises, including the Brexit issue, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His opponents only sermonized what he should have done.
A voter in Greater Manchester said, “Whether he would fail or succeed, we’ll never know now, but he should have been given the opportunity.”
Another voter was disappointed that Johnson was ditched, saying, “I really liked Boris, and I was really, really disappointed in how he was treated. They’re picking on minor things.”
At present, Rishi Sunak, the Indian-British hopeful of succeeding Johnson, appears excited to keep going in the Conservative Party leadership campaign even as surveys of party voters predict a firm lead for his rival, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Until last week, some surveys showed Truss holding on to a solid 32-point lead in the race. Some other surveys of Tory members, who will vote in the September election, showed a similar tilt in Sunak’s favor.
Those supporting Sunak, who is the son-in-law of N R Narayana Murthy, founder of India’s IT behemoth Infosys, include senior Tory leaders like Michael Gove. Gove had missed out in his own leadership bids, first in 2016 when he surprised many by announcing his own candidacy instead of backing Johnson at the time as was expected, and then again in 2019 when Johnson emerged as the unanimous choice to succeed Theresa May.
Gove has since served in senior Cabinet posts under Prime Ministers David Cameron, May, and Johnson. This week, he alluded to taking a backseat from frontline politics and backed Rishi Sunak.
Meanwhile, both candidates—Truss and Sunak—continue on a busy campaign trail as they try to win over the votes of Tory members who will cast their postal and online ballots in the leadership election set to close on September 2.