5 things we learned when Liz Truss and Rishi
Sunak went head-to-head on primetime TV
The UK foreign secretary remains in pole position in
the race for 10 Downing Street.
BY ANDREW
MCDONALD
July 26,
2022 2:31 am
LONDON —
Was this the night Liz Truss sealed the deal?
Monday
evening’s crucial head-to-head TV clash between Truss and Rishi Sunak — the
final two contenders in the race to replace Boris Johnson — ended in an
effective score draw, leaving Truss in pole position to become Tory leader and
U.K. prime minister.
The debate
was the first in a series which will play out on TV screens over the coming
days and weeks, but was widely seen as the most important as it screened in a
primetime slot on Britain’s most-watched free-to-air channel, BBC1.
And it
means that with six weeks to go until the new prime minister is installed in 10
Downing Street, Truss, the U.K. foreign secretary, remains in the driving seat.
Here’s how
Monday night’s big debate played out between the final two.
The favorite delivers … sort of
Coming into
the debate as the clear favorite to be Britain’s next prime minister, albeit
with lingering questions about her ability to perform under pressure, Truss had
the most to lose as she prepared to face Sunak in a BBC studio in
Stoke-on-Trent.
In the
event, the foreign secretary did exactly what she needed to do. She came across
as calm and focused in the face of a shoutier and more aggressive performance
from Sunak, and managed to avoid any of the PR gaffes for which she has been
known through parts of her ministerial career.
This was in
no way a foregone conclusion. Truss had finished bottom in the first, five-way
Tory leadership debate broadcast earlier this month, according to an Opinium
snap poll, with Sunak judged to have performed significantly better. But this
time round the same pollster found Truss and Sunak were almost neck and neck
among voters across the U.K.
And the
foreign secretary will be delighted by the detail of the survey, which found
that Conservative voters specifically rated Truss’ performance better than
Sunak’s, by 47 to 38 percent.
Critics who
wrote off the foreign secretary as wooden and error-prone early in the contest
have been forced to eat their words. It’s early days, but she appears on course
for No. 10.
Tetchy Sunak fails to land killer blow
Trailing
Truss in polls of Tory members, Sunak failed to land the killer blow he
urgently needed before voting starts next week — though it wasn’t for want of
trying, early on.
In a
combative first half of the debate, the former chancellor barely let Truss get
a word in, as he harangued and harassed her on the detail of her tax-cutting
proposals.
On multiple
occasions the BBC’s Sophie Raworth, acting as referee, was forced to step in
and request Sunak let Truss have space to answer. On one occasion, Truss
quietly appealed herself for the opportunity to respond, as Sunak continued to
talk over her.
Perhaps
recognizing the approach wasn’t working, Sunak grew less shouty and more
considered as the night went on, eventually garnering the first rounds of
applause from the audience for his answers on Boris Johnson’s Brexit
achievements and on his own family’s personal wealth.
With no
game-changer moment forthcoming, however, it seemed unlikely to be enough to
change the course of the race. Sunak is quickly running out of time to turn
things around.
Still no love lost
If the
opposition Labour Party enjoyed the early five-way debates enough to create a
video of the candidates’ most brutal put downs, it will have been overjoyed
again Monday night as the gloves came off right from the start.
The
personal attacks from both candidates were relentless during a long initial
segment on tax policy. Sunak repeatedly interrupted Truss to declare that her
plans were “not responsible,” “not moral” and a “short-term sugar rush.”
For her
part, Truss compared Sunak to the former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown,
and said Sunak’s criticisms of her tax proposals were reminiscent of the
“Project Fear” campaign run by those supporting a Remain vote in the Brexit
referendum.
Sunak did
not miss the chance to point out that unlike him, Truss was among the
Conservatives who backed Remain in 2016 — and played a key role in issuing dire
warnings about the impact of Brexit.
Away from
the debating stage in Stoke-on-Trent, supporters of the pair were only helping
to remind the public of the Conservatives’ deep divisions.
Multiple supporters
of Truss — including her closest Cabinet colleague Thérèse Coffey — accused
Sunak of “mansplaining” during the debate. One spokesperson for the Truss
campaign went even further, telling the Times newspaper that Sunak had “tonight
proven he is not fit for office.”
While that
single line may have signaled the end of Sunak’s political career, it was
notable that Truss’ campaign team would not repeat it after the event. And
despite the bitter attacks ongoing behind the scenes, up on the stage Truss insisted
she would still offer Sunak a position in her government.
Hugging BoJo close
Departing
Prime Minister Johnson has overshadowed much of the leadership contest, amid
outlandish reports suggesting he may fancy a political comeback.
Monday
night saw significant time devoted to questions about Johnson, who appointed
both candidates to two of the most senior roles in his government. The prime
minister remains a popular figure with large elements of the Tory membership.
Perhaps
mindful of that fact, Sunak — whose resignation brought down Johnson’s
government — praised his former boss and said he was “one of the most
remarkable people I’ve met.” Asked to rate his leadership out of 10, the former
chancellor gave Johnson a full 10 for delivering Brexit — remarks that earned
him his biggest round of applause of the night.
Truss, who
boasts the backing of most of Johnson’s closest allies, played up her refusal
to resign from his government, saying she didn’t believe that the “mistakes
[Johnson] made were sufficient that the Conservative Party should have rejected
him.” Nevertheless, she rated his prime ministership a cool seven out of 10.
Stranger things
Viewers
turning on their television sets at 9 p.m. Monday were greeted by a painfully
long, deeply uncomfortable camera shot of what appeared to be cardboard
cut-outs of Sunak and Truss standing in front of the Stoke-on-Trent audience.
Except
these cut-outs could blink; they weren’t actually made of cardboard; and they
both looked just as uncomfortable as the audience watching the BBC’s bizarre
choice of opening shot in disbelief.
The tone was
set. In an hour of primetime political TV, the candidates and presenters rarely
touched on totemic issues such as Britain’s National Health Service, or rising
crime. The studio audience barely got a look in either. Questions about the
role of Brexit in last week’s border crisis were reduced to a simplistic yes/no
format.
But several
long minutes were found to discuss the sartorial preferences of the candidates,
with Sunak asked to defend his choice of sharp suits and expensive shoes.
The awkward
viewing was compounded by the scene of two of the broadcaster’s most senior
journalists, Chris Mason and Faisal Islam, crammed into a small corner behind a
tiny desk to ask their follow-up questions.
With at
least two more primetime TV debates to go, British politics shows no signs of
getting any less weird anytime soon.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário