“SHUFFLING DECKCHAIRS”
The timing surprised some in Sunak’s party.
But after he fired his party chairman over his tax affairs and with an investigation into bullying allegations against his deputy prime minister Dominic Raab ongoing, several lawmakers said he might be seizing a chance to stamp his mark.
Raab denies the allegations.
Business leaders largely welcomed the changes, with Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) director-general Tony Danker saying on Twitter: “It’s a clear statement of intent and a couple of big bets for growth. Though obviously (there is) quite a bit of bureaucracy to mitigate against.”
But some climate campaigners, while welcoming the creation of an energy and net zero department, said they feared it could become too distant from other ministries such as business.
Sunak’s appointment of Hands as party chair finally filled a position made ever more important before the next national election expected in 2024, after Nadhim Zahawi was sacked nine days ago over his tax affairs.
It was largely welcomed by a party which is deeply divided and increasingly assertive after ousting two prime ministers last year over scandal and economic chaos.
Since entering Downing Street in October, Sunak has been under pressure to set out his stall, with some in his party questioning whether he was overly managerial and lacked an overriding ideology or vision for Britain.
He has so far failed to reduce the commanding lead in opinion polls held by the opposition Labour Party, which is increasingly presenting itself as Britain’s next government.
Sunak promised in January to tackle Britain’s most serious problems, from cutting inflation to fixing the National Health Service (NHS) and reducing illegal migration, aiming to convince his lawmakers he can lead them into the next election.
He has also passionately espoused the need for Britain to become the “next Silicon valley”, pledging in January to increase public funding in research and development to 20 billion pounds (US$24.06 billion).
But Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University in London, said that even if some investors welcomed the move, he did not believe the departmental changes would make “a blind bit of difference to their fortunes at the next election”.
“I am sure he will just get accused of shifting the deckchairs on the Titanic.”
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