All the problems facing Mr Sunak are largely the product of past events.

Events resulting from the actions of Thatcher, Blair, Cameron, Johnson and Truss. Most significantly, dreaming up PFI and Blair's implementation of it and Lansley's NHS reforms, and the austerity lunacy of George Osborne. Apart from events that influence Rishi's outlook, there are also groupings within the Tory party that will influence and guide his actions in office. Currently, the ERG and the Common Sense Group are significant, there will also be a strong influence from MPs and advisors working on behalf of the business interest. There will also be influence coming from right-wing think tanks, particularly the Institute of Economic Affairs. Gavin Williamson, Robert Genrick, Therese Coffey and Suella Braverman are all back in government? All members of the ERG... Our History page covers all of this...

 

Sunak’s five promises

05/01/23

Sunak introduced us to his five point plan to save broken Britain. That is, it would be a plan if he had a clue how he would do any of it.

He will halve inflation this year.

He will grow the economy, create better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country.

He will make sure our national debt is falling so that we can secure the future of public services.

He will reduce NHS waiting lists and people will get the care they need more quickly.

He will introduce new laws to stop the small boats, making sure that if you come to this country illegally, you are detained and swiftly removed.

Note: Housing is not on his list?

 

The Sunak Cabinet

Sitting at the shiny table

 

Richard Holden - Chairman of the Conservative Party

Richard has been appointed chairman of the Conservative Party by Mr Sunak. This job requires the holder to be a sharp media operater. He needs to have a grasp of the party's policies and he needs to anticipate the questions he will be asked - i.e., by the papers. This man is a twit!

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Oliver Dowden appointed as Deputy PM 21/04/23

He also becomes Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. (MP) for Hertsmere since 2015.

Note: The Duchy of Lancaster is a private estate owned by His Majesty The King, as Duke of Lancaster. This dates back to 1399.

 

Alex Chalk appointed to Justice and Lord Chancellor 21/4/23,

Sunak found him wasting money at the Ministry of Defence. He was minister of state for Defence Procurement.

Note: By law, the lord chancellor is responsible for the administration of the courts, prison system, legal aid, and probation services in England and Wales.

He was elected PM for Cheltenham in 2015. He followed the usual route to high office, prep school, public school, and Oxford. He is a qualified barrister, so is not short of funds. He was first elected for Hammersmith in 2006.

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Jeremy Hunt - Chancellor... read his CV

Hunt has a long cloudy record at the top of the Tory party

He backed Sunak for the recent leadership of the party. He made two failed attempts to get himself into No.10. In 2019 he lost to Mr Johnson by 66% to 34% in the members' vote. And in July 2022 he was knocked out in the first round of voting when he secured the backing of just 18 MPs in the contest which saw Ms Truss take up the mantle.

Financial Services: The Edinburgh Reforms

Turning back the clock to 2008 and forgetting a global recession caused by the banks.

At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor highlighted financial services as one the UK’s five key growth sectors. In a written statement to Parliament on 9 December 2022, the Chancellor set out a collection of announcements taking forward the government’s ambition for the UK to be the world’s most innovative and competitive global financial centre. From: HM Treasury Published 9 December 2022

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Gillian Keegan education secretary

MP for Chichester since 2017, she served most recently as a minister in the Foreign Office.

Previously she was a health minister, with responsibility for care and mental health, between September 2021 and September 2022 during the latter half of the Covid pandemic.

Before entering politics, she worked for almost 30 years in the manufacturing, banking and IT industries.

She is married with two stepsons.

Dec' 9, Now sitting on her hands, with the School's Bill in the freezer.

 

Michelle Donelan - Culture secretary

(Who Knew?) Michelle has been appointed culture secretary, giving her a second chance to make her mark in cabinet following her resignation two days into the job of education secretary in July.

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Steve Barclay - Environment Secretary

Steve has been appointed environment secretary replacing Therese Coffey
He was previously health secretary, a role he briefly held under Mr Johnson before he lost his cabinet position in Ms Truss’s reshuffle of September 2022. At health he made a mess of negotiations with doctors and nurses.

 

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Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Until now, Victoria has been the financial secretary to the Treasury - a post she’s held since Sunak took office in October 2022.

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Kemi Badenoch - International Trade Secretary

Kemi Badenoch has been reappointed international trade secretary by Rishi Sunak and will also be minister for women and equalities.

She took on the international trade brief under Liz Truss after surprising many by reaching the last four in the summer’s leadership contest.

She was a former minister in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Ms Badenoch, who has been outspoken on issues such as gender-neutral toilets which she opposes, stood on an "anti-woke" platform and argued for the state to be slimmed down.

The former software engineer worked in banking and later as a director of the Spectator magazine before being elected to the London Assembly.

She became MP for Saffron Walden in Essex in 2017, and lists her interests as including engineering and technology, social mobility and integration.

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David Cameron - foreign secretary

Former Prime Minister David Cameron has been appointed foreign secretary by Mr Sunak, bringing a level of diplomatic experience hard to find elsewhere in the party, no, impossible to find.

David takes over as Foreign Secretary from James Cleverly. Foreign Office civil servants will not miss Cleverly, he did nothing in the role. Reminder: David was Conservative prime minister, in office between 2010 and 2016, he also did nothing in office except search for black swans and doing what ever the Americans told him to do.

Note: black swans equal solutions just out of reach.

 

James Cleverly - Home secretary

James, not so, Cleverly was as quick as an Exoset missile when he was asked what his new job as Home Secretary involved. He said, I’m "absolutely committed to stopping the boats". That’s it, there’s no more. Cleverly replaced the demented Suella Braverman who thought homelessness a lifestyle choice.

He's been replaced as a foreign minister before, for the Middle East and North Africa, and later for Europe and North America. He has been replace as Foreign Secretary by David Cameron

25/09/22: As Foreign Secretary likes to talk about the importance of reaching a negotiated resolution with the EU regarding the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Meanwhile, he continues to distract us by talking about the war in Ukraine.

 

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Ben Wallace - Defence Secretary since 24 July 2019,

retired August 2023

Silent at the moment 25/09/22 apart from repeating what the news media told us last night about the war in the Ukraine.

Mr Wallace trained at Sandhurst before joining the Scots Guards as a platoon commander. During his eight-year spell in the Army, he served in Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and Central America. He was a member of the Scottish Parliament, before winning his seat of Lancaster and Wyre in 2005.Does that make him ready for war?

 

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Grant 'three names' Shapps is Business secretary, now he is in charge of Defence. He replaces Ben Wallace.

He was once seen as a high-flyer in the Tory party until he resigned following allegations he ignored warnings about bullying when he was party co-chairman.He was born in Watford and educated at a local grammar school, before going on to Manchester Polytechnic to study business and finance. He later set up his own successful printing business. Mr Shapps was elected MP for Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire in 2005.

Anti-strike legislation
05/01/23
Unions could be sued if they do not provide minimum levels of fire, ambulance and rail services, under planned anti-strike laws.
Business Secretary Grant (three names) Shapps said the measures were being introduced to "restore the balance between those seeking to strike and protecting the public from disproportionate disruption".

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Michael Gove - Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

He previously held the same role under Boris Johnson, but was sacked in July after urging the prime minister to resign.

He had a fraught relationship with Mr Johnson. The pair worked closely together while campaigning for Brexit but in 2016 Mr Gove famously derailed the leadership hopes of his friend by running against him.

Mr Gove was also a key ally of former Prime Minister David Cameron and has served as MP for Surrey Heath since 2005.

He made his name as a radical education secretary, bringing in major changes to exams and the curriculum and battling teaching unions during his four years in the role.

He also previously served as justice secretary.

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Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport (2022–)

MP since 2005

Harper studied PPE at Oxford. He was a accountant before his election to Parliament. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Parliamentary Secretary for Political and Constitutional Reform, Minister of State for Immigration and Minister of State for Disabled People.
Harper served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons following the 2015 general election; before being sacked by incoming Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016.

He was...

Immigration Minister under Home Secretary Theresa May

The van wasn't Harper's finest moment. When Theresa became PM she sacked him.

Apart from vans he knows nothing about transport.

This is a problem because he is supposedly in charge of HS2. Our ride into the mythical Northern Powerhouse may never happen?

 

Ester McVey - Minister for Common Sense

In truth no one knows what her remit will be in government. It might be driving the muck spredder now Suella Braverman has gone.
Previously McVey was a minister at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government from July 2019 to February 2020, and she was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from January to November 2018.
She was elected MP for Tatton in 2017 and was previously MP for Wirral West from 2010 to 2015.
She was criticised by the chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Eric Pickles, for breaking anti-lobbying rules within the Ministerial Code in accepting the job at GB News while she was still the housing minister. In February 2020, McVey was dismissed in Johnson's post-Brexit reshuffle.

 

Mel Stride - Pensions secretary

He is a close ally of Rishi Sunak and ran both his leadership campaigns.

As chairman of the influential Commons Treasury Committee since 2019, he had been a strong critic of Liz Truss’s economic approach, as well as playing an important role in scrutinising the government’s financial support during the Covid pandemic.

Previously he held a handful of junior ministerial roles, including in the Treasury and business department. He also served as leader of the House of Commons under Theresa May.

Before becoming MP for Central Devon in 2010, he ran a business with his wife specialising in trade conferences and exhibitions.

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Gavin Williamson - Minister without portfolio

Gavin Williamson has been appointed as a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office and will attend cabinet.

His last cabinet role was education secretary, a post he held from July 2019 to September 2021, meaning he oversaw the department through the majority of the Covid pandemic.

His time in the job saw him face severe criticism over his handling of school closures, free school meal provision and GCSE and A-level exams – and he was subsequently sacked.

He also served as defence secretary under Theresa May but was fired in 2019, following allegations – which he denied – that he had leaked details from a National Security Council meeting on whether the Chinese firm Huawei should be involved in setting up the UK's 5G network.

First elected as MP for South Staffordshire in 2010, he has also served as chief whip, responsible for party discipline.

While in that role he notably kept a pet tarantula called Cronus on his desk.

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Robert Jenrick - Minister for Immigration

04/04/23: Jenrick was banned from driving for six months after he was caught speeding on the M1. He was fined £1,107, and ordered to pay a £442 victim surcharge and £90 in costs.

Note: A victim surcharge is like a charity payment for victims of crime.

Robert Jenrick has been appointed minister for immigration in the Home Office and will attend cabinet.

He first joined government as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury under Theresa May and also served as Housing Secretary under Boris Johnson.

He was one of the few Sunak allies to make it into Liz Truss’s team, albeit as a junior health minister rather than the cabinet role he had held previously.

He drew criticism in 2017 when, as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on international trade, he attended US President Donald Trump's inauguration.

A qualified solicitor, before he was elected as MP for Newark in 2014, Mr Jenrick pursued a career in business, including as international managing director at art firm Christie’s.

Richard Holden - Chairman of the Conservative Party

Richard Holden has been appointed chairman of the Conservative Party by Mr Sunak. This job requires the holder to be a sharp media operater. He needs to have a grasp of the party's policies and he needs to anticipate the questions he will be asked - i.e., by the papers. This man is a twit!

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First get rid of the lickspittles...

Ree-Mogg - business secretary gone

Brandon Lewis - justice secretary gone

Kit Malthouse - education secretary gone

Robert Buckland - Welsh Secretary gone

Ranil Jayawardena - Environment Secretary gone

Simon Clarke - levelling up secretary gone

Jake Berry - Tory Party chairman is also gone

 

Dominic Raab - no-longer Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice - SACKED 21/04/23 for bullying, in truth Sunak let him resign because he couldn't sack his best tea boy.

Sacked as Foreign Secretary after he made a mess of the Afghan exit.

A Labour female politician once described him as self-pitying, he certainly looks like a candidate for happy slapping.

Raab seems to be a bit of an oddball, he keeps reaching out for a few right-wing reference points like meritocracy, anchors, to stop him being blown away by a light breeze. And he rarely misses an opportunity to reveal his studity. In June 2020, he was asked if he would 'take the knee'. His responses, showed he clearly didn't have a clue what he was being asked about. He said the gesture "seems to be taken" from TV drama Game of Thrones. He also said it "feels to me like a symbol of subjugation, subordination, rather than one of liberation".

 

 

Suella Braverman - Home Secretary SACKED by Liz, now reinstated.

She's from the same mould as Preti Patel, on the far right of the Tory gang. The criminal fraternity should be afraid, very afraid.

She supports the withdrawal of the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights and supports sending cross-Channel migrants to Rwanda. And she thinks, "Twitter is a sewer of left-wing bile".

The Invention of Barges 29/03/23

The latest lame, madcap idea coming Suella Hogwarts Braverman, will be to move the 51 thousand illegal migrants out of their hotels and onto barges and old army barracks.

These illegals are currently held in 400 so-called hotels. Dominic Rab (that's his real name), tea boy and Justice Minister, was asked by LBC how many people were being held in hotels, he did not know. He was then asked how many barges we had acquired, he did not know. Clearly, Hogwarts is keeping it to herself. It may have been better if LBC had spoken to Robert Jenrick, is he the brains behind this fictional project? Can he tell us how much of the £5 million a day spent on hotels will be saved by evicting the illegals to barges. He probably does not have a clue, nor does he care and why should he, after all, its a fairy story. The only people that will care are those hotel owners who stand to lose a small fortune.

Her Crime Cutting Agenda

Her latest brainwave, 24/09/22, is that the police should introduce Common sense into the job and forget about 'diversity and inclusion' schemes. Great but no one knows what she means by common sense policing?

Home Secretary Braverman Gone

19/10/22

Mad as a box of spanners, Suella Braverman, has resigned, she made up some silly nonsense about using her private email for office business. However, that is not the news...

And Gone Again 14/11/23

 

 

Therese Coffey - was health secretary and deputy prime minister. Now Environment Secretary Sacked - 13/11/23

Best known for nothing but she is Liz's best friend. And she thinks she has a “laser-like focus” and she is going to use it to fix the NHS, when she's not down the pub doing some karaoke.

Well now she will have to fix the environment instead?

At the dispatch box: 22/09/22

“[We are] setting the expectation that everyone who needs a GP appointment can get one within two weeks.”

Then clever people asked: "However, there appears to have been confusion over whether this two week timeframe is a target, a requirement or just an “expectation”. (Full Fact)

Dr Coffey replied: “It’s clearly an expectation that I’m setting out on behalf of patients.”How great do you feel, having an advocate with a Dr. in front of her name, either if she's not a real doctor. Although, there's no evidence that real doctors actually exist, I have not seen one for three years.

 

Bills in May's Queen's Speech: progress?

November 2022

Not introduced: 8
Less than halfway through Parliament: 15
More than halfway through Parliament: 8
Finished all parliamentary stages: 2
The UK has changed prime minister twice this year, leading to a backlog of legislation waiting to get through Parliament.

Online Safety Bill

One flagship bill reportedly being watered down is the Online Safety Bill. It's designed to improve protections for internet users, especially children. "There's quite a lot of disagreement among Tory MPs on the content of the bill."

Media Bill

The main provision of the Media Bill - another of Ms Dorries' bills - on privatising Channel 4, is widely expected to be dropped.The bill would also require media platforms to make content from public service broadcasters - such as the BBC and ITV - more prominent.

Renters' Reform Bill

First announced by Mrs May's government, this would scrap no-fault evictions and protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords.
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights would limit the powers of the European Court of Human Rights in the UK.

Transport Bill

This legislation has already been pushed until at least next May.
It would enable the creation of Great British Railways, a state-owned agency to replace the "fragmented" privatised rail system, setting timetables, prices, selling tickets and managing rail infrastructure.

Conversion Therapy Bill

Ministers almost dropped plans to ban the practice of trying to change the sexuality of someone who is gay or bisexual entirely earlier this year.

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Hunt's CV

Before his political career began in earnest, he worked as an English teacher in Japan and then co-founded an educational publishing business. He sold 'Hotcourses' in 2017, reportedly for £14million, which made him one of the richest politicians in the UK.

Elected for South West Surrey, 5 May 2005. He went to the private Charterhouse School where he was head boy before going on to study philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Magdalen College, Oxford University, graduating with a first.

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012

His stint as culture secretary saw him work closely with then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson on the London 2012 Olympics and come under major fire for his role in the BskyB takeover bid. He faced calls to resign over his contacts with Rupert Murdoch's empire while the bid was being considered.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 4 September 2012 – 9 July 2018

Oversaw a period of cuts and privatisation across the NHS, he was also responsible for a highly controversial new contract for junior doctors.

It prompted medics to strike for two days - leaving emergency care uncovered - for the first time in the health service's history. Ultimately, a new contract was imposed. He was also responsible for ending the nursing bursary .

Stafford Hospital: hospital or abattoir

The report into the tragedy that is Stafford Hospital, indicates that patients were "routinely neglected ". It's said that Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period from 2005 to 2008.
The report cost £11m and, will it be money well spent, probably not, it will just be buried away along with the complaints against 41 doctors and 29 nurses that their so-called professional bodies did not take action on. Mad cap funny man, ex-culture secretary, and then health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said the NHS needed a "change of culture". He, of course, blamed New Labour for imposing a culture of targets and performance management on hospitals. This culture can hardly be considered to have taken much of a hold or else operatives performing poorly would have been shown the door.

We do not need to reform the whole of the NHS because Stafford hospital had the misfortune to employ a load of rubbish doctors and nurses, and a management team recruited from Toys-r-Us, all overseen by an inspection process that failed to notice patients drinking the water from the flower vases. The Healthcare Commission told us in 2009 that "appalling standards" were putting patients at risk. Four years on and no action, why are we waiting for yet another report to be published? Hunt took no action, he should have sent all the monkeys masquerading as doctors and nurses back to the banana plantations and zoos where they came from, got rid of the Toys-r-Us chancers and got Defra to pitch their tent in the Stafford Hospital car park until the place is run like a hospital and not an abattoir.

Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019

He was criticised for allowing the UK to sell arms to Saudi Arabia during its controversial military campaign in Yemen.

Interests

His register of interests reveals he has a half-share of a holiday house in Italy and seven apartments in Southampton.

Since 2017 he has co-owned a real estate business - Mare Pond Properties Ltd - with his wife.

On several occasions over the past year he has been paid between £2,000 and £10,000 to speak at various organisations, but has donated all fees to charity.

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New Plans for the Northern Powerhouse

Announced at the Tory Conference, Oct. 4, 2023

Every penny of the £36bn saved by scrapping high-speed rail to Manchester will be used for alternative rail, road and bus schemes, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says.
But some of the schemes announced in place of HS2 have been promised before and there are question marks over others.

• Rishi Sunak promises more rail, road and bus links

Will Manchester get longer platforms?

Although the high-speed line to Manchester has been cancelled, HS2 trains from Birmingham will still continue into the city - albeit on existing tracks.
HS2 trains need longer platforms, so it raises questions about whether passengers will only be able to get off from some carriages.
BBC Verify asked the Department for Transport whether there would be funding for longer platforms at Manchester Piccadilly.
We were pointed towards the £12bn to better connect Manchester with Liverpool. Some of this money could be used to improve the platforms, but official documents don't say that's what it's for.

Upgrading the A1 announced again

A dual carriageway between Morpeth and Ellingham in North East England was announced.
This has been promised before. People in the area have been waiting for this development since at least 1990, when other parts of the A1 were brought up to motorway standard.
In December 2014, former Prime Minister David Cameron announced £290m for this stretch of road. It was scheduled to be completed before 2020.
Planning permission had to be extended because a decision to go ahead had not been made.

A tram for West Yorkshire

Work on a mass transit system linking Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield will receive £2.5bn.
The scheme was announced in the government's 2021 Integrated Rail Plan, but only £100m was granted for a project then expected to cost over £2bn.
Leeds in particular has been waiting a long time for improved transport links.
A previous supertram project for the city was cancelled by Labour in 2005 and a trolleybus was scrapped in 2016 after being denied planning permission.

 

A new station for Bradford

There will be investment of £2bn to include a "brand new" railway station in Bradford.
That was previously cancelled in 2021 by Boris Johnson's government, reinstated by Liz Truss in 2022 and axed again when Rishi Sunak took office.

The government says the alternative schemes will be delivered 'more quickly' than HS2

Quick changes to some transport schemes

Almost as quickly as they were announced, the details of some projects were amended.
Leamside line
Reopening the North East's Leamside rail line - between Pelaw, Gateshead and Tursdale, County Durham - was included in the Network North report on how the £36bn would be reinvested.
But this was soon removed from the website and the government now says money for the region "could part fund" its reopening.
A259 from Bognor
Another scheme aimed to improve the A259 from Bognor Regis to Southampton, according to the full Network North document.
However, the government has since confirmed the improvements are actually towards Littlehampton, which is in a different direction.
Bristol tram
£100m was also announced for a tram "in and around Bristol", as posted on X by mayor Marvin Rees.
That's been changed to say it's £100m for the West of England Combined Authority, which "could" be used for an extension of the MetroWest rail project.

North Wales electrification costs

Electrification of the North Wales Main Line has been given £1bn.
But electrifying the Maidenhead-Cardiff line - roughly the same length - hit nearly £2.8bn in 2016, when money went further.
So, there are questions about whether the funding will be enough.
Overall, Network North has announced more money for the South of England than for Wales.

Already delivered

Manchester Airport Metrolink
Nearly £1bn was announced for Manchester's city region, with possible projects including "extending the Manchester Metrolink to Heywood, Bolton, Wigan and Manchester Airport".
However, many people pointed out that the Metrolink was extended to Manchester Airport in 2014, and this line was later dropped.
The Metrolink was extended to Manchester Airport in 2014
Clifton South Tram extension
Similarly, the £1.5bn for the East Midlands mentioned the possibility of extending the Nottingham tram system to Clifton South.
However, that project was completed in 2015.
Nottinghamshire MP and county council leader Ben Bradley that what "it refers to, in a Westminster not-quite-involved-in-the-detail kind of way, is opportunities around Ratcliffe-on-Soar."

• No new compensation for 'pain' caused by HS2

Upgrading the A75 and A77 in Scotland

Although the Scottish government is in charge of transport infrastructure in Scotland, Mr Sunak said there would be UK government money to address pinch points on the A75 between Gretna and Stranraer.
He also said there would be better links between the Cairnryan ferry terminals serving Northern Ireland and southwest Scotland and the A77 towards Glasgow.
Councils in the areas say upgrading to dual carriageways would bring "£5bn of positive benefits".
However, as with many of these schemes, the costs are not known and the government has not said how much will be allocated.

Will 'every penny' of savings be reinvested?

Of the £36bn in savings announced by the government, the majority (£30bn) will come from cancelling future work.
The rest is from scaling back plans for Euston Station and persuading investors to chip in.
We have counted about £32bn of spending announced for new schemes.
There are about 15 smaller projects still to be given cash values which could account for the rest of the money.

When will the projects arrive?

The government says the schemes will be delivered "more quickly than HS2".
Much of the spending for cancelled parts of HS2 was scheduled for the 2030s.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has said only that "hundreds of millions" of the £36bn will be available in the next few years.
The most immediate impact of the money would be the continuation of £2 bus fares.
There is also some money for local leaders to begin planning the projects that the funding will eventually pay for.
However, schemes will still need approval before they can truly get under way.
Reporting by Robert Cuffe, Tom Edgington, Lucy Gilder, Marcus O'Brien, Anthony Reuben, Megan Riddell, Daniel Wainwright, Duncan Walker.