# Rishi Sunak tries to lead the UK **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 24, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706 "2022-10-24T13:07:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/422 "2023-07-09T18:24:45Z")
This is very unkind and puerile. And so am I > ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/423 "2023-07-15T12:44:38Z")
And now all eyes on Friday next week and the fall-out from three by-elections: > **[‘No point climbing the greasy pole’: Tory ministers want out in reshuffle](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/14/no-point-climbing-the-greasy-pole-tory-ministers-want-out-in-reshuffle)** > > Rumours Rishi Sunak will change his team have some, fearful of what an election will bring, seeking an exit to the backbenches ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/424 "2023-07-15T18:49:15Z")
One of the best ways to sink a troubled ship is for the bridge crew to go overboard prematurely. OTOH, waiting too long is a great way to go down with the actually doomed ship. Decisions, decisions. Who’s a panicky wuss and who, if anyone, is made of sterner stuff? We shall see. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/425 "2023-07-16T03:32:55Z")
And who’s either a gambler or has a spectacularly bad sense of timing? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/426 "2023-07-18T08:42:48Z")
“That’s not grease…” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/427 "2023-07-21T05:16:46Z")
Well, ha ha. (Low turnouts suggest a lot of Tories stayed at home, so it remains to be seen what happens in the General Election, but still, one in the eye for the government: cabinet reshuffle by Monday?) > **[UK byelection results: Labour routs Tories in Selby and Ainsty but falls...](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/21/uk-byelection-results-labour-tories-selby-ainsty-uxbridge)** > > Keir Mather, 25, is Selby’s next MP, as Labour narrowly fails to take Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Liberal Democrats romp to victory in Somerton and Frome ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2023, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/428 "2023-08-03T11:47:31Z")
[Greenpeace draped black fabric over his house in protest of his environmental record.](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/3/greenpeace-drapes-uk-leader-sunaks-home-in-black-fabric-over-oil-policy) Does the UK need another deep coal mine? I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/429 "2023-08-08T21:18:51Z")
Looks like Rishi just lost a big issue, and that Keith Starmer is serious about being the next PM, and not in a minority government: [The Gender War Is Over in Britain](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/uk-trans-rights-labour-party/674944/) > [@](#): > > Finally, Labour was therefore dropping its commitment to self-ID—the idea that a simple online declaration is enough to change someone’s legal gender for all purposes—and would retain the current requirement of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. . . . > > In the three years since the Conservatives [dropped](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/22/uk-government-drops-gender-self-identification-plan-for-trans-people) their commitment to self-ID, some of their [politicians](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tories-should-fight-next-election-29211636) have gleefully seized on the vote-winning potential of gender as a culture-war issue. By contrast, during that time, Starmer and his ministers have been fumbling over their answer to the question _What is a woman?_, talking about cervices far more than anyone outside a gynecology department would wish to. A desire to stick to the progressive line has meant that Labour politicians have ended up [saying baffling things](https://uk.style.yahoo.com/labour-mp-dawn-butler-child-born-without-sex-150324736.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGjJ3Wh5kJtAmdZI9UFHqUUB-x9ZgHcLPdrmXEL5O7fSu8yyXfQDpt_cn4aWevKWa2Ze5NrVPslU2hnSIBC1AN7F1dFHE5DMRiuxxz1hOe7vgGlGePG7YJ0UFMrxnPe7JUWf6TTd98mXd-IpbBaK9FeGagNpbRvVQMbBgUk1AdyO) like “A child is born without sex.” Some have attacked interviewers for even bringing up the subject, which just drew more attention to their tortured answers. Stuck arguing about the [exact percentage](https://news.sky.com/story/keir-starmer-says-99-9-of-women-havent-got-a-penis-as-he-faces-questions-over-trans-rights-12848438) of women who have a penis, Labour couldn’t talk about Britain’s housing crisis, high energy costs, crumbling infrastructure, poor economic growth, and high inflation. > > That era is now over . . . ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/430 "2023-08-09T00:22:04Z")
The author of that piece is deeply deluded if they think ceding ground on trans rights means the issue is over. They just handed the bigots a victory, they aren’t going to stop now that they’re winning. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/431 "2023-08-27T06:12:32Z")
A flounce delete for the ages: > **[Nadine Dorries resigns: Conservative MP attacks PM as she quits Commons](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66630308)** > > More than two months after saying she would go, she tells Rishi Sunak "history will not judge you kindly". ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2023, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/432 "2023-08-27T09:07:53Z")
My favourite bit of her resignation letter to Sunak is: “You have no mandate from the people …” As she flounces because she has been denied an unelected seat in the upper house of parliament. A fitting farewell. Politicians almost invariably have at least a whiff of Dunning Kruger about them, but this was surely the poster child. j ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2023, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/433 "2023-08-27T10:08:48Z")
It’s hilarious. Shame HIGNFY & The News Quiz are on sabbatical; they’d have a field day. The total lack of awareness is … to be expected, i suppose. > She accused Mr Sunak of abandoning “the fundamental principles of Conservatism” ie, not giving your mates peerages. And they wonder why people think they’re scum. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/434 "2023-09-01T08:05:12Z")
It’s been a busy old summer for Rishi Sunak, as he rolled out a calculated series of PR initiatives designed to showcase Conservative successes and put Labour on the back foot. We had Immigration Week, Crime Week, NHS Week and maybe a couple of others that passed me by. And what has been the result of this diligent focus on these voter-critical issues? > ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/435 "2023-09-01T08:36:56Z")
And he’s had to appoint a new Defence Secretary, who probably thinks he’s an expert on camouflage: > **[Meet Grant Shapps, the UK’s new defence secretary](https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/grant-shapps-home-secretary-suella-braverman-spreadsheet-michael-green-b1034098.html)** > > From allegations of doctoring his own Wikipedia page to using a pseudonym to promote his ‘get rich quick’ guides, Grant Shapps’ political career has had some bizarre moments. But who is the UK’s new defence secretary? Emma Loffhagen reports ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/436 "2023-09-01T09:31:17Z")
Lots of shocked incredulity about the appointment, although frankly it will get lost in the noise of all the other shit going on. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/437 "2023-09-01T09:57:59Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > who probably thinks he’s an expert on camouflage: He thinks he’s an expert on everything. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/438 "2023-09-01T10:28:46Z")
I still have to question the sanity of about 23% of the population then. 1% I accept are extremely rich and also without an altruistic bone in their bodies, but what about the rest? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/439 "2023-09-01T10:32:09Z")
I would guess, older home owners insulated from mortgage/rent rises and benefitting from increased interest rates, who believe a lot of what they read online and in the Times about the scourge of wokeness. Basically, the sort of people who are now somehow very worked up about ULEZ, despite the fact that their cars are new enough to be exempt. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/440 "2023-09-01T10:35:21Z")
True. You should probably add in the Mail, Express etc into that. The front page of the Mail today made my blood boil. The state of the NHS is down to all those callous docs, nurses and other medical staff apparently. Nothing to do with the Govt, definitely not. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706/441 "2023-09-03T23:34:08Z")
From the article: “His new cabinet position will be his fifth in less than a year, having famously served as home secretary for six days under Liz Truss before becoming business secretary and then energy secretary under Sunak.” Doesn’t it fill you with confidence? And subjectively “he has a daughter and son twins Tabytha and Noa”. I know, shallow of me. But those names… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rishi-sunak-tries-to-lead-the-uk/973706.md?page=23)