I’m old enough to have covered the General Election of 1987, when Margaret Thatcher won her third victory (her second landslide). That campaign also saw the election of the first four MPs of colour (all of them Labour) in modern times - Paul Boateng (who later, under Tony Blair, became the first black Cabinet minster), Diane Abbott, Keith Vaz and Bernie Grant.
At the time, many commentators saw this as a milestone – a sign that Britain, which two decades earlier had witnessed Enoch Powell’s notorious “rivers of blood speech” and openly racist by-election campaigns, really was changing.
It may have taken another 35 years. But the unopposed coronation of Rishi Sunak as leader of the Tory Party and our next Prime Minister is also hugely important, especially given the diverse nature of much of the other talent on the Conservative front bench. Of course, he is not the first British PM from a minority background: that honour belongs to the great Benjamin Disraeli in 1868. But the fact the Tories chose Sunak is an event we ought to welcome with just as much enthusiasm as the election of Barack Obama as US president.
Racism – including the antisemitic variety – has not been banished from Britain. But it is in retreat.
Just as significant was the nature of Sunak’s victory. By lunchtime today, Monday, it was apparent that the prospects of Penny Mordaunt getting over the 100-nomination threshold to be allowed formally to stand were starting to recede. Over coffee in the atrium at Portcullis House, a senior Tory MP who was part of Sunak’s campaign told me: “I’m getting inquiries from MPs who’ve already nominated her asking how they can withdraw their nomination – it’s a complicated business, but it can be done.
“It’s just becoming clear that no one wants a contest Rishi is certain to win. We’ve seen what happens when someone becomes Prime Minister without enough support from the party. That is not an experiment we can risk trying again.”
By this time, of course, Boris Johnson had already declared himself out of the running – having dashed back early from his Caribbean vacation to no avail.
And so to committee room 14, where first, at 2pm, Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, announced that Sunak was the only candidate, and then, a short while later, Sunak himself addressed MPs. Reporters were excluded from the second of these history-making events, but as we sat outside, there was no mistaking the frequent cheers and desk-banging going on inside the room as the new party leader spoke.
The MPs and former ministers emerging after the meeting wore expressions of bliss, relief, and triumph. The daunting nature of the new PM’s in-tray is, of course, formidable. But here at last, they said, was the man for the job: as former party leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith told me, “cometh the hour, cometh the man. We can get back to governing again.”
Sunak, he added, had made a speech that emphasised unity, and “getting the job done”, claiming that the vicious divisions that have emerged in the past 12 months were all “personal, not ideological”, and pointing out that all those present had stood on the 2019 Tory manifesto – with its commitment to “levelling up” and deriving benefit from Brexit.
“My perception is that this is fantastic,” former Brexit Secretary David Davis told the JC. “I have never heard such a warm reception for any new leader in my long career.” Former chancellor Sajid Javid repeated this observation in almost identical terms – adding that Sunak’s victory showed “the Tories are not, as some have claimed, ungovernable”.
Even Therese Coffey, appointed Health Secretary and deputy leader by the hapless Liz Truss, was effusive. “It’s very clear that the party is behind Rishi,” she told me. “Of course I’m sad about what’s happened to my friend Liz but we are now behind him, and I will do whatever it takes to support him.”
A cynic might observe that they would say that, wouldn’t they: with Labour currently polling over 50%, the Tories really have no choice. They must unite or die. But to me, it seemed that the choice of Sunak was attracting genuine warmth, and, more importantly, deep respect for his intellect: no bad thing given the challenges he must face.
It’s early days, but from this, I think, we can draw some conclusions. First and foremost, a senior member of Sunak’s campaign told me that the new PM is “absolutely determined” to resist the growing pressure for an early general election. Given their new-found confidence, it does not now seem likely that many Conservatives are going to object, and that may well mean that Labour will not get its chance until well into 2024, or even later – the last possible date is January 2025. I suspect there will be far fewer Tory rebellions from here on in.
Second, I doubt there will be any big departures from the foreign policy set under Boris Johnson, and indeed, Liz Truss: the UK will remain a staunch friend of Israel, determined to do all it can to curb Iranian regional aggression and its acquisition of nukes, and an ally of Ukraine.
And finally, Jews should welcome the arrival of another PM from a minority community, even if, with Dizzy, we got there first. Britain under Sunak is not going to be a country where anti-Semites will thrive.
