Two firsts in UK democracy – but at what price?
The past and present chairs of the Political Psychology Section - Ashley Weinberg and Kesi Mahendran - reflect on the transition of power from the previous prime minister to Rishi Sunak.
07 November 2022
By Guest
25 October 2022 represented a momentous date in UK political history. The appointment on this day of a new prime minister, who is the child of Indians themselves forced to leave East Africa, provides both a statement of what has gone before and what is yet to come. Yet this accession raises renewed challenges for British democracy and its public accountability. Narratives of liberal progress sit uneasily with trending hashtags such as #GeneralElectionNOW.
It is worth reflecting on the contrast between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Regardless of his political affiliation and whoever he represents, Rishi Sunak will long be remembered as the first prime minister of colour. Whereas the universal brickbats for his predecessor, described unflatteringly by the journalist Tanya Gold as 'a mirror' are likely to consign Liz Truss to a different order of historical reflection.
When the Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli described India as 'the Jewel in Crown of the British Empire', could he have had the political imagination to contemplate that one of its descendants would become the UK prime minister? The intertwining of British and Indian history over the last 150 years and the political imbalance so often infused within it, indicate very clearly that this moment is overdue.
What Rishi Sunak's appointment to the highest office signifies to people throughout the UK is already the focus of much expectation. This is positive in many ways and yet it remains an open question what this means to minoritised groups within the UK, where inequalities and injustice continue to characterise so many aspects of the functioning of society. The new prime minister also happens to be the wealthiest Member of Parliament and, it is claimed, wealthier than the new king. For a democracy to be successful, it must ensure it represents all of its citizens.
Separate from the individual who succeeds to power and their story of mobility and migration, is the crucial process by which the ruling political party has come to its latest choice of prime minister. It is worth considering another first. For the first time in UK political history, two leaders who have failed to meet the standards of public office have been obliged to resign, yet the political party who elected them as their leader has steadfastly ruled out a general election, despite this being called for by all of the opposition political parties. This raises very serious questions about the nature of representative democracy for the rest of us: should it only be for the citizens to exercise their right to choice when the ruling party decides, or do we need an additional constitutional mechanism that could ensure in future the failures of a governing party are presided over by automatic reference to the people?
The election of Liz Truss was subject to the vote of only Conservative Party members, yet the latest change in prime minister was enacted only by Conservative Members of Parliament. In other words, as each leadership has failed, so the mechanism to appoint a successor has shrunk. In such times of economic turmoil, the rising prices of food and fuel make meaningful democratic representation a necessity. Can this semblance of democracy survive an ongoing attempt to keep power from the electorate? We have witnessed in the last year two distinct firsts within our democracy in the UK – but perhaps we need to ask at what price?