![]() He had taken prominent positions before Johnson’s administration, in which he was appointed chancellor. Javid comes from more humble origins and is noted for his integrity. But though superbly presented, his well-to-do background and questions over his taxes could work against him. Sunak, a former investment banker, won kudos for his financial schemes – including furloughs, job retention and subsidized eating out – that helped keep a Covid-ravaged economy afloat. ![]() Photo: Wikipedia/UK Government The Empire Strikes Back Rishi Sunak could well replace Boris Johnson as UK prime minister. The men who led the revolution against Johnson have cleaner records. Johnson’s wriggling over the whip infuriated both public and party. The camel’s back was broken when the abuser in question – drunk, and in full view of fellow parliamentarians at a London club – groped a pair of staffers. The latter failing was most spectacularly seen in his fallout with his closest advisor Dominic Cumings, who dished the dirt on his former patron in the most savage fashion.īut it was Johnson’s appointment of a sexual predator as a party whip that was the final straw. Johnson’s penchant for blustering, lying and wriggling, before finally admitting fault and apologizing, had always been a bad trait – one on full display in the “Partygate” scandal and one that his humor, wordsmithery and bonhommie could not camoflage.īut it was not his only fault his judgement on personalities had always been dodgy, too. But now the Ukraine War has turned against Kiev and Johnson’s Teflon hide has finally been holed. ![]() With the public distracted, Johnson’s skin was saved. As Russian armor rolled into Ukraine, Johnson emerged as a powerful champion of Volodymr Zelenksy.īritish-supplied anti-tank rockets were one of the key weapons that enabled Zelensky’s defense of Kiev, leading a grateful Zelensky to address the British parliament – the first in a series of such appearances – than to greet Johnson in his capital. Johnson was saved by the intrusion of some deadly serious geopolitics in February. The opposition, for once, seemed to have Johnson’s head in their crosshairs – but they never pulled the trigger. His party-loving ways got the better of him when it became clear that he and his chums were knocking them back in 10 Downing Street while the rest of Britain was in Covid lockdown. Though his early response to Covid-19 was both catastrophic and deadly, his fast adoption and rollout of vaccinations led to the UK being one of the first countries to exit the pandemic and “live with Covid.”īut though you could take the man out of the pub, you could not take the pub out of the man. However, an Anglo-Asia leader would be a powerful symbol that the UK – formerly, an arch imperial power, and subsequently a nation still wracked by classism and racism – is advancing into a more inclusive future.Ī thundering Eurosceptic, he was the man who “Got Brexit done” – then spanked a particularly hapless opposition into the ground in 2019, winning with a landslide general election victory. Why enticing? The election of Barack Obama to the top position in the US government by no means ended American racism, and there is likely no magic bullet for its British version. That opens up the enticing prospect that an Anglo-Asian premier may, for the first time, take the UK’s national helm. All three have respected political careers all three are seen as runners in the race to replace Johnson. Sunak is of Indian ancestry, Javid of Pakistani, and Zahawi, Kurdish. ![]() That afternoon Johnson admitted, “The herd instinct is powerful, and when the herd moves, it moves,” adding, “In politics, no one is remotely indispensable.” Only then did the formerly bulletproof premier realize the game was up. “Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse…you must do the right thing and go now,” Zahawi wrote in a public letter – the same weapon deployed by Sunak and Javid – on Thursday. That was delivered by Johnson’s own replacement for Sunak, the very newly minted Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi. ![]()
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