A Problem Like Suella: The Readout with Kitty Donaldson

Suella Braverman, UK home secretary, at the UK Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is trying to reset the political narrative a year or so out from a general election. — Suella Braverman, UK home secretary, at the UK Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is trying to reset the political narrative a year or so out from a general election.
Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

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November 8, 2023 at 5:00 PM UTC

When Rishi Sunak appointed Suella Braverman to one of the UK’s so-called great offices of state just over a year ago, it was seen as both a reward for backing him to be leader and a neat way of keeping sceptics on the right of his party in check. She could say things as Home Secretary some Tories think voters like but are too distasteful for a prime minister.

But her comment over the weekend that homeless people are sleeping rough as a “lifestyle choice” triggered outrage across the political spectrum and led to Conservative fears that Braverman is re-toxifying the party at a key moment ahead of a general election. Her decision to label pro-Palestinian protests “hate marches” has also ruffled Tory feathers.