The Wall_Spring 2023_Issue 9

Matthew Combi, (he/him), LVI, gives an overview of the leadership race that brought Sunak to power

A leadership race was established after Boris Johnson

announced he would be resigning on 7th July 2022. There were two main politicians who were fighting for the most difficult job in Uk politics and they both believed in very different directions for the future of the United Kingdom. Liz Truss who used to be the Chief secretary to the Treasury until June 2019 and Rishi Sunak who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Boris Johnson until he resigned. Till this day the Cost-of-living crisis has put major stress on the British Public and in the worst cases people have had to skip meals due to not having significant funds to pay for their bills. Naturally, this crisis was a significant topic of debate in the leadership battle. Before Mr Johnsons resignation Rishi Sunak, as chancellor of the exchequer, implemented a £15 billion package of support in May to help Britons cope with the biggest cost-of-living crisis in decades. However, his competitor criticised it as insufficient, given that energy costs were expected to rise again in October. Liz Truss had pledged that economic development, fuelled by her projected tax cuts, will be the principal means of addressing the issue.Taxation was also a topic which both politicians had conflicting views. Rishi Sunak was going to increase tax rises to balance the books following record government borrowing during the Covid pandemic. On the other hand, Liz Truss wanted to reduce taxes which would boost economic growth. Truss was appointed as Prime Minister by 20,000 votes from the Conservative ballot, but her appointment was short lived. So how did Truss get it all wrong? Most

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