Indian-origin Rishi Sunak is all set to be UK’s second prime minister this year and third in three years. For the new PM-elect, however, the path to power is strewn with hard rocks and thrones and Sunak has to be on his toes. So, he will have his task cut out, to steer the country from the economic mess it finds itself in and revives his party’s fortunes. Let’s understand three of the immediate challenges before the new PM of the UK.
Dealing With High Inflation
One of the most immediate challenges for Sunak is to address the high inflation and tide over the energy bill crisis. At present, in the UK, inflation has soared beyond 10%, rendering even rudimentary aspects out of bounds for its citizens. But, Rishi Sunak, on his part, has vowed strict measures to deal with inflation like cutting government expenditures and raising the tax. However, these things can be very tricky as initiating stringent regulations runs the risk of precipitating recession in the UK. Hence, it would be interesting to see how the new PM-elect is going to approach the problems.
Stabilizing Energy Prices
As a result of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the consequent punitive measures taken by the West on Moscow the energy supply to Europe has been affected badly. In the UK, the yearly energy rates per household have spiked to £3,549 from £1,277 a year back. This prompted the erstwhile Truss regime to put a lid on the spiralling energy bills and prepayment meter costs till next April at £2,500 a year. But the demand is going to be greater as Britain is set to welcome winter in some time. So, Sunak has to keep the prices unchanged or minimize the same for the sake of his country’s citizens and also be mindful of the monetary situation as there is inadequate scope for the debt as far as the UK is concerned.
Reviving The Prospects Of The Conservative Party
Another challenge before the India-origin Sunak is purely political. He has to restore UK citizens’ confidence in the Conservative Party, which has been facing a lot of heat from the Labour Party in popularity polls. Three PM in three years has adversely impacted the party’s popularity, by 14 per cent. This implies that if an election is held currently, the Conservatives could face a huge setback. So, any more leadership crisis would worsen the future prospects of the Conservative Party and Sunak has to be extremely careful about the same and work towards regaining the lost grounds of his party.