Can Rishi Sunak unite his warring party? Five big challenges for the new PM

Published

3 years ago

October 25, 2022

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Will it be the third time lucky this year for the Tories as they embark on their next prime minister?

Rishi Sunak told his colleagues yesterday – painfully aware that their opinion poll ratings are on the floor, if not crashing through the basement – that they must “unite or die”.

Here are five key challenges he faces.

Challenge one: a unity cabinet

Mr Sunak said he would create a cabinet of all the talents, a phrase that is often used but too often falls victim to prime ministers wanting to reward their loyalists.

We’ll see in the coming hours how many of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson‘s supporters make it into the cabinet, with Jeremy Hunt widely expected to stay as chancellor.

One key appointment to watch will be whether Ben Wallace, who clashed with Mr Sunak over defence spending last year and backed Ms Truss because she offered a multibillion-pound increase, will remain in post.

Right-wingers such as Suella Braverman, who threw her backing behind Mr Sunak, will expect jobs but also hold him to promises such as the scheme to send some migrants to Rwanda.

A cabinet that is a broad church means conflict behind closed doors, which can burst into the open – see Theresa May’s time in office. But the Tories want to see all strands of opinion brought in behind Mr Sunak.

Challenge two: balance the books

The fiscal plan to balance the books is still in the diary for next Monday and the Halloween statement is set to be full of horrors. How it lands is a crucial test, especially as the Bank of England makes its decision on interest rates later that week.

A £40bn black hole can only be plugged by spending cuts or tax rises and a mixture of both is expected.

What will be protected? Mr Johnson’s spending review last year promised what was described as a record funding settlement for the NHS – of around 3.8% a year. Inflation, running at 10%, would wipe that away when waiting lists have hit seven million.

Challenge three: the austerity PM

Among the difficult decisions to be made in the coming days is whether pensions and benefits will rise with inflation, or those reliant on them will see a real-terms cut.

Raising benefits by the level of average earnings rather than inflation would save a few billion pounds. But it could destroy a reputation Mr Sunak has traded on since he launched the furlough scheme in March 2020 as someone who protects the most vulnerable.

There could be a heightened risk for Mr Sunak, who is married to a billionaire, of showing he understands the struggles of those on the lowest incomes.

Also coming down the track, and a key consideration when it comes to cuts to departmental budgets, is a wave of strike ballots over public sector pay. Telling nurses and teachers they cannot have a pay rise because the country can’t afford it could be a tougher sell for a prime minister with a gilded lifestyle.

Challenge four: Johnson and internal enemies

What about our former prime minister, who blames Mr Sunak for his downfall?

He tweeted his congratulations to Mr Sunak on Tuesday afternoon and said “this is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support.

But Mr Johnson, who returned from the Dominican Republic to mount his own leadership campaign, which he claims could have succeeded, threatens to be an alternative power base in the party and perhaps to criticise from the sidelines if parts of his 2019 agenda are dropped.

Mr Sunak inherits an almost 80-seat majority, but all his economic measures will require difficult votes in parliament.

The publicly declared supporters of Mr Johnson and Penny Mordaunt, the Commons leader who also ran in the leadership contest – and not those they claimed to have, make up more than 90 MPs. There is a sizeable pool of unreconciled MPs who could make governing difficult.

Challenge five: is an election on the cards?

As well as having to get the economy back on track, and being Britain’s face on the world stage in dangerous times – something Mr Sunak has limited experience of, given his meteoric rise since he was elected seven years ago – he is relatively untested as a campaigner.

His constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire is a safe seat and he inherits a Conservative Party seriously damaged by the past few months.

He hopes for another two years before an election and has no obligation to hold one.

But with even some Tory MPs calling for one, and more ominously, Conservative-supporting newspapers pointing out that he walks into Downing Street without a single vote being cast, he may – if it’s a rocky road ahead – struggle with an increasingly loud drumbeat to get a mandate from the public.

World

Israel attacks Houthi targets at three ports and power plant in Yemen

Published

6 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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Israel attacks Houthi targets at three ports and power plant in Yemen

Israel says its military has attacked Houthi targets at three ports and a power plant in Yemen.

Defence minister Israel Katz confirmed the strikes, saying they were carried out due to repeated attacks by the Iranian-backed rebel group on Israel.

Mr Katz said the Israeli military attacked the Galaxy Leader ship which he claimed was hijacked by the Houthis and was being used for “terrorist activities in the Red Sea”.

It came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued an evacuation warning for people at Hodeidah, Ras Issa, and Salif ports – as well as the Ras al Khatib power station, which it said is controlled by Houthi rebels.

The IDF said it would carry out airstrikes on those areas due to “military activities being carried out there”.

Afterwards, Mr Katz confirmed the strikes at the ports and power plant.

Earlier in the day, a ship was reportedly set on fire after being attacked in the Red Sea.

A private security company said the assault, off the southwest coast of Yemen, resembled that of the Houthi militant group.

It was the first such incident reported in the vital shipping corridor since mid-April.

The vessel, identified as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas, had taken on water after being hit by sea drones, maritime security sources said. The crew later abandoned the ship.

The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership called an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors.

The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched an assault against the rebels in mid-March.

That ended weeks later and the Houthis have not attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.

A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area.

The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East.

A possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and Iran is weighing up whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear programme.

It follows American airstrikes last month, which targeted its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic that ended after 12 days.

How did the Houthis come to control much of Yemen?

A civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa.

Worried by the growing influence of Shia Iran along its border, Saudi Arabia led a Western-backed coalition in March 2015, which intervened in support of the Saudi-backed government.

The Houthis established control over much of the north and other large population centres, while the internationally recognised government based itself in the port city of Aden.

World

‘We’ll never yield’: Millions of Iranians unite in mourning

Published

6 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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'We'll never yield': Millions of Iranians unite in mourning

Under the red flag of martyrdom, they beat their chests in memory of a fallen religious leader as the cleric recounts his fate outside one of Tehran’s oldest mosques.

Imam Hussein was tricked and martyred by his enemies in the seventh-century battle of Karbala. The crowd of grown men and women wept with grief as Hussein’s story was retold on Sunday.

Ashura is always deeply moving for the Shia faithful but this year even more so. It comes after the trauma of Israel’s surprise attacks on Iran.

There was a sense of emotional release and a chance for Iranians to come together in solidarity.

Ashura is also a reminder that Iran’s revolutionary leaders draw much of their power from the strength of religion in this country after a conflict its enemies hoped would see those same leaders toppled.

The festival has come at just the right time for its embattled government.

Iran’s supreme leader has appeared in public for the first time since Israel attacked his country. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was greeted with ecstatic cheers by his followers at Ashura prayers.

His supporters told us they welcomed his return. “I was so happy that I didn’t know what to do,” said one woman. “This caused our big enemies the United States and Israel to receive a great slap in the mouth.”

“His appearance on TV for Ashura,” a young man told us, “showed that all the talk about him hiding and taking the path of peace with the United States is not true and it shows that he is holding his position strongly and steadfastly”.

We had been given rare access to Iran among a handful of journalists who were let in after the 12-day war.

Its scars aren’t hard to find – buildings left with gaping holes where Israeli airstrikes took out members of Iran’s elite, one after another.

And Abbas Aslani, an analyst with close ties to the government, says there is a fear it may not be over.

“The Iranian government and the army are prepared for a new round of conflict, because they think that the other party, specifically Israel, is not to be trusted in terms of any ceasefire,” he said.

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At the Ashura ceremony, the crowd chants, “we’ll never yield to humiliation” – an age-old message for Iran’s enemies today as they brace for the possibility of more conflict.

World

What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal – and what challenges could lie ahead?

Published

12 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal - and what challenges could lie ahead?

An Israeli delegation is heading to Qatar for indirect talks with Hamas on a possible hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza.

The development comes ahead of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump in Washington DC on Monday aimed at pushing forward peace efforts.

The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to secure a permanent ceasefire and an end to the 21-month-long war in Gaza.

Mr Trump said on Tuesday on social media that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a deal on a truce.

And Hamas, which runs the coastal Palestinian territory, said on Friday it has responded to the US-backed proposal in a “positive spirit”.

So what is in the plan?

The plan is for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by the militant group in exchange for more humanitarian supplies being allowed into Gaza.

The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the war altogether.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Dozens of hostages have since been released or rescued by Israeli forces, while 50 remain in captivity, including about 30 who Israel believes are dead.

The proposal would reportedly see about half of the living hostages and about half of the dead hostages returned to Israel over 60 days, in five separate releases.

Eight living hostages would be freed on the first day and two released on the 50th day, according to an Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries, it is reported.

Five dead hostages would be returned on the seventh day, five more on the 30th day and eight more on the 60th day.

That would leave 22 hostages still held in Gaza, 10 of them believed to be alive. It is not clear whether Israel or Hamas would determine who is to be released.

Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

A Hamas official has said Mr Trump has guaranteed that the ceasefire will extend beyond 60 days if necessary to reach a peace deal, but there is no confirmation from the US of such a guarantee.

Possible challenges ahead

And in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained.

The concerns were over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Hamas’s “positive” response to the proposal had slightly different wording on three issues around humanitarian aid, the status of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) inside Gaza and the language around guarantees beyond the 60-day ceasefire, a source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.

But the source told Sky News: “Things are looking good.”

The Times of Israel reported Hamas has proposed three amendments to the proposed framework.

According to a source, Hamas wants the agreement to say that talks on a permanent ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached; that aid will fully resume through mechanisms backed by the United Nations and other international aid organisations; and that the IDF withdraws to positions it maintained before the collapse of the previous ceasefire in March.

Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were “not acceptable to Israel”.

However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to “continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to”.

Another potential challenge is that Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, which is a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.

Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza.

Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something that the group refuses.

Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war’s end, while Mr Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the group’s destruction.