Boris Johnson's Replacement is Waiting in the Wings
Rishi Sunak is peddling true-blue fiscal conservatism, but via more taxes rather than less spending. Weak growth may yet scupper him.
Delivering for Britain.
Photographer: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AFPAs Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak has only one more rung to climb on the U.K. political ladder — to the position so many of his predecessors have coveted and failed to get: prime minister. This week the most powerful man in Westminster after Boris Johnson pitched his future wares in his second budget and set out Britain’s post-pandemic fiscal strategy.
If his plan to fill the black hole in the nation’s finances pays off, the top job lies wide open. Other pretenders have fallen on the rocky road to Brexit or have tried to take on Johnson and lost. Sunak’s formula is clear: largesse in the short term to reassure Britons who are returning to economic activity thanks to the vaccine rollout.