What I got wrong (and right) in 2023
The IndependentThis year, I made the mistake of assuming that people would be grateful not to have destructive fantasists in charge of the country. On Christmas Eve last year, I reviewed Sunak’s first two months as prime minister, and said: “If it is true that the way prime ministers come to power contains the seeds of their eventual fall, then Sunak’s end is already foretold: he will be driven from office because he is super-rational and politically inept.” What I meant was that he had become prime minister despite having lost a leadership election in which he refused to tell his party members what they wanted to hear – in stark contrast to the way Keir Starmer won his leadership election two years earlier. And Sunak’s deal with Macron helped cut small boat arrivals by one-third, but he promised to “stop the boats”, not reduce them. If she gained any support among Tory members for calling pro-Palestinian demos “hate marches” against Sunak’s wishes, she must have lost as much by her divisive and bitter letter to the prime minister. If I thought Sunak would fare better this year, Starmer’s friends have accused me of underestimating the opposition leader.
History of this topic
Sunak has showered voters with promises he knows he will never deliver
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Starmer urged to be less cautious after suggesting he may not reverse HS2 cuts
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The Starmer government of 2024 is now very much in play
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