Who are Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the candidates to rule Great Britain

The race to choose the British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party has begun.

Rishi Sunak, former finance minister, Indian-born billionaire, economist at Stanford University, and Chancellor Liz Truss are the two candidates chosen by conservative militants to decide who will lead the kingdom’s fate. The winner will be announced on September 5, replacing Boris Johnson.

Nothing more opposite between one and the other. Rishi is a technocrat, ex chancellor of finance, which chose to practice Keynesianism when the Covid epidemic hit and subsidized everyone.

The son of two Indian professionals from Africa, he studied with the aristocracy at Winchester College in Oxford, and then at Stanford University, where he has lived to this day.

Like Margaret Thatcher

Liz Truss dresses like Margaret Thatcher, apart from the hairstyle, because she wants to sell herself like her. A new Thatcherian, who was born a Liberal Democrat, retrained himself as a Conservative and was Memorandum (against Brexit) in the referendum on leaving the European Union.

Then it became the purest Brexit. She believes in Boris’ continuity, but it is far from alike.

is an extremely rich, over 50, white and generally male electorate who will choose the next British prime minister. The rest of the country does not participate unless general elections are called, as the far-right Tory would like if Rishi Sunak wins.

Until today Liz Truss is the favorite win this race, even though the rest of the country prefers Rishi Sunak for his training.

She is known for her economically neoliberal positions and a socially compassionate conservatism.

He was a minister to David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Theresa May, but when he was at Oxford University he was a Liberal Democrat calling for the abolition of the monarchy.

He worked at Shell as an account manager and at Cable Wireless as a business director. She has been a substitute teacher since 2010 and has been Undersecretary of Education.

Then she was Secretary of Justice between 2016 and 2017, and received strong criticism for his ability to confront the Prime Minister if necessary. She was secretary of international trade and Boris Johnson promoted her to chancellor in 2021, replacing Dominique Raab.

It was in this position of chancellor that his gaffe they were more evident. In a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, he asked if he recognized Russian sovereignty over the Rostov and Voronezg regions.

He mistook them for Ukrainian regions and said Britain “would never recognize those regions as Russian”. Russia felt that these statements forced its forces to go “on maximum alert”.

He then expressed his “absolute support” for British volunteers fighting in Ukraine. British volunteer detainees were sentenced to death in Russia.

His policy towards the Persian Gulf countries has been called into question due to the death of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, as ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

On July 10, 2022, she ran for leadership of the Conservative Party.

He promised to “fight the elections like a conservative and govern as such”. It won’t raise taxes and help people with the cost of living.

The Rishi Sunak paradox

Rishi Sunik has a paradoxical position. she is the candidate who won with more votes the competition organized by the 1922 Committee, the party’s highest authority. But he is likely to lose the vote in favor of the militant conservatives, who prefer a white, non-Keynesian leader.

He created the leave plans and “eat out” schemes during the pandemic. He prefers to lower pre-tax inflation.

Born May 12, 1980 in Southampton, the son of a doctor and a pharmacist, Rishi’s parents are Hindus from Punjab, who belonged to the Indian diaspora in Africa.

He studied at Winchester College, then philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College in Oxford and earned an MBA from Stanford University in California, where he lived before entering politics.

At Stanford he met Akshata Murty, daughter of Narayana, the billionaire of the Indian tech company Infosys.

He and his wife are richer than Queen Elizabeth and are listed at number 22 among British millionaires, with a fortune of £ 730 million.

Always dressed in bespoke suits from Italy or Saville Row and shoes from Prada or Church, Sunak is criticized by the British press for its refined tastes.

He was elected an MP for Richmond in the 2015 general election and served in Theresa May’s cabinet. He then supported Boris Johnson, was his finance secretary and wrote the letter in which he resigned along with Sajid Javid questioning the economic differences with Boris Johnson.

Sunak worked as an analyst at investment bank Goldman and Sachs between 2001 and 2004 and went to a new hedge foundThematic partners.

difficult campaign

The allies of Liz Truss launch personal attacks against Rishi Sunak for raising taxes and “betraying” Boris Johnson as part of his attempt to win over Conservative members.

The foreign minister will not personally criticize Sunak, but will launch herself as a candidate for “change”, cutting £ 30 billion in taxes while “growing”.

However, his main supporters, Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities, should directly challenge Sunak for his record in the government and for ousting the prime minister.

“Now the guns will be aimed at Rishi,” said one ally. “Many people held back. While he was chancellor, he has become a black hole for policies that the party does not share. It’s not for nothing that they call Liz the human hand grenade, “said one of them.

The Truss team’s attacks will focus on inflation, tax hikes and unfairness towards Boris Johnson.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former conservative leader and Truss supporter, accused Sunak on Wednesday of fueling inflation by allowing huge levels of quantitative easing (effective printing of money to stimulate the economy) by the Bank of England.

“Rishi is the candidate for continuity. He will have to defend his record of him in the government and his adamant refusal to cut taxes, “said an ally of Truss.

“It approved quantitative easing last year, when many economists said it was a big mistake. The base is still very angry about his betrayal of Boris, particularly in the north, “she recalled.

no personal attack

Sunak’s team was ordered to refrain from personal attacks against Truss and lawmakers who break the rule receive warning calls from campaign headquarters.

A Sunak ally predicted that Truss would lose his luster among members as the campaign progressed, as they realized he had been preparing a leadership offer for months.

“If you think Liz organized her campaign in a couple of days, you must be wrong,” they said. “It’s a bit strange, and this will come out during election campaigns over the summer,” they warned.

Another MP said Sunak warned Truss: “Colleagues found that those exchanges in debates over the weekend weren’t good.

“If someone chooses to conduct a very aggressive personal campaign, I think it would do very badly with MPs and Conservative members actually. It is certainly not what we will do and if it makes sense, it is not what others would do. “

The remaining candidates for the Tory leadership were summoned for a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Backbench Committee, earlier this week, amid concerns that the campaign was overflowing.

It happened after Sunak and Truss were involved in a series of exchanges during televised debates.

harsh accusations

On Sunday, Sunak suddenly questioned Truss’s upbringing, asking her if she regretted being more of a “Lib Dem” or a “Remainer” moments after mocking her economic policy as “socialist”.

Truss responded by mocking Sunak’s private school education in Winchester and accusing him of raising taxes at the highest level of the last 70 years.

The two sat on the sidelines during the meeting when Brady warned the candidates to “soften” their attacks on each other. Truss and Sunak will now engage in a long summer of head-to-head meetings with 12 events scheduled, plus two televised debates.

The first televised debate will take place next Monday at 9pm on BBC1. The candidates then begin their tour of the country with an election campaign in Leeds on 28 July and finally conclude in London on 31 August.

Along the way, they will appear on stages from Cheltenham to Norwich, from Exeter to Perth, to discuss their policies in front of Tory members.

There will also be another televised debate on August 4 on Sky News. The winner will be announced on September 5th.

Paris, correspondent

CB