The British Conservative Party has chosen a successor to replace current Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Foreign Secretary Liz Truce is the new leader and Prime Minister. 57 percent of party members answered the question of who will succeed Boris Johnson, who has become unpopular with the ruling party, and Mary Elizabeth Truss aka Liz Truss. Truce, who is expected to lead the country until the next election in 2025, faces tough challenges after his predecessors who have lost faith inside and outside the party.
While it is their merit that they stood by Boris to the end and did not raise the instrument of rebellion to the point of putting the party in crisis, there are many in the party who have not yet fully digested him. Therefore, the party should unite the party by putting an end to the differences left behind by the fierce contest for the leadership position. Along with this, the economic and political crises faced by the country after Brexit should be overcome. The future of not only Truce, but the party and the country depends on how these two challenges are met.
It is the fourth time in the last six years that Britain has changed its Prime Minister. Johnson had to face a fine by holding a party in violation of the Covid protocol in a manner unbecoming of the prime minister. In a country where it is forbidden to even visit the places where relatives died, 83 prominent people in administration and offices including the Prime Minister had to be fined as criminals in ‘Partygate’. Still, there were sexual assault cases against Johnson who held on. Thus, he won the best election victory in the history of the party and lost his own camp. According to the British method, Johnson, who had escaped any crisis, was deposed by the ministers and members of parliament under pressure. The reactions after Truce’s election announcement prove that the party has not even thought about the successor in the face of the insistence that he should change. Johnson’s supporters have backed Truce because he stood by him to the end.
There may not be any significant change in Britain’s internal and external policies or governance except that Johnson has been replaced by Truce. Not only that, but the new leadership will also cross Johnson in the intensity of race consciousness and war hatred. While the inflation and energy crisis are raging, the promise of both the candidates was to free the people from the tax burden including the value added tax and to reduce the burden of the severe energy crisis and consequently the bills of the consumers. Although they were members of Johnson’s cabinet, Truce has yet to share a clear picture of how to deal with the economic crisis.
The new Prime Minister’s stance is that no matter what the issue is, one cut and two pieces. Truce’s answer to the question of whether tax cuts are better for the rich is that it is the very rich who have to pay more taxes. He is also ready to answer how he would feel if he had to order a nuclear strike: “That is the prime minister’s job. I am ready for it.” As the Foreign Secretary, she has shown the stubbornness of war-mongering that does not yield to truce or dialogue. Britain is a Nato backer providing troops and weapons to Ukraine. Britain is training 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in four months and sending them to war against Russia. British special operations forces are active in Ukraine. Their line is that peace talks are enough only after Moscow is defeated.
They are Israel’s best friend in West Asia. Israeli Prime Minister Yar Lapid and Truss introduced each other in the same way. Therefore, they share in the joy of Tel Aviv in thinking of the blood of the Palestinians. They supported the Israeli attack last August, which claimed the lives of 45 Palestinians, in the name of the right to self-defense. Israeli leaders immediately welcomed Truce’s election. Defense Minister Benny Gatz also expressed hope that as a senior friend of Israel, defense and commercial cooperation with Britain could be strengthened.
There is no doubt that China and Russia need to improve economic cooperation with the Arab countries, even if they do not hide any xenophobia, fearing that China and Russia will take root in the Arab countries. Even when Truce comes away from the slippery Johnson, all the confusion, lack of direction and lack of position is evident in the descendants of the empire that does not set the sun. So there is no reason to think that a change in leadership will change the fate of Britain – until the new leadership proves otherwise.