When a leader is appointed for a political post, people expect a change. Though they expect big changes, politicians keep them on tenterhooks by introducing some small ones in quantum packets. It seems as if even that facility won’t be accessible to British voters and Liz Truss is just going to continue with the legacy of Boris Johnson.
Liz Truss wins it
Rishi Sunak has lost the race for becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak received 60,399 votes on the members’ ballot, approximately 21,000 less than what Truss got. Rishi could win the trust of only 42.6 per cent of members while Liz Truss got overwhelming support of 57.4 per cent of them.
Continuing with the declining popularity of PM elects, Liz Truss received 9 per cent fewer votes than her predecessor Boris Johnson. Johnson had received 66.4 per cent of votes, 1.3 per cent less than his predecessor David Cameroon.
Johnson is jubilant
The lower number of votes compared to Boris also indicate that she would be fearful of changing any of the policy measures introduced by the former Prime Minister. Besides that, she is herself a loyal heir of Boris. The fact that she was Foreign Minister in Boris’ Cabinet and toed Johnson’s lines, is also a reason why Boris Johnson supports her. He celebrated her victory with an appeal to conservatives to fully support her. “Now is the time for all Conservatives to get behind her 100%,” said Boris.
While there is near unanimity among party leaders about domestic policies, foreign relations is one area where one could expect some tinkering. But even that seems to be dull since she is expected to maintain the status quo until the next elections arrive and Johnson’s policy is tested on voting ballots.
The US will continue to dominate
Historically the best and all weather partner of the United Kingdom has been the United States. The friendship is so deep that British Politicians have not been hesitant to let their soldiers die in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other places. The value of British lives takes a backseat when America’s pseudo-moral stands on different issues call for their sacrifice.
UK’s coordinated approach regarding Ukraine sanctions is a more recent example of their ‘special relationship’ with the United States. In the wake of BREXIT, the UK’s dependence on the United States has increased many-folds. It is highly unlikely that Britain would leave its habit of wagging its tail infront of the United States, something which Liz Truss championed while being secretary of state under Boris.
Equations with France and other EU countries
The UK’s equation with the United States is defining characteristics of their Foreign relations. For pacifying the US, Brits are even ready to compromise peace with their neighbours. Their relationship with France is one such example. The growing power of France in arms trade was a threat to Military-Industrial complex of the US. So they decided to leverage their country’s power against it.
The UK was happy to join AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) to the detriment of France. Liz Truss played a key role in it. A few days ago her decision to air personal views on Macron shows that she will take the anti-France stand to the next level. Under Truss, Britain’s equation with the EU is also expected to follow the trend set by Boris Johnson.
Both the UK and European Union have not changed their stance on the Ukraine-Russia crisis. They are working on removing their dependence on Russian energy. Given the fact that Liz Truss had challenged Russians on the army buildup before the war and the Kremlin didn’t budge, she is more likely to take revenge for her insult.
Nothing will change with India
In the case of India, we are not that much dependent on the UK so that we could get impacted. Liz Truss has an excellent working relationship with Indian Cabinet Ministers and is hopeful of Free trade agreements being finalised before Diwali. Truss said, “I see the UK and India in a sweet spot of the trade dynamics that are building up”. It is again in line with Boris Johnson’s opinion about India.
Leaders change and so do the policies. In the case of Britain, it is unlikely to be the case. However, countries need to be vigilant because vote-bank politics is unpredictable.
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