There was something inevitable about the collapse of Liz Truss’ presidency.
Almost from day one their government struggled.
After sacking Kwasi Kwarteng and scrapping her mini-budget, it was clear her days were numbered. Now the Conservative Party must elect its new leader – and quickly.
The new prime minister will face an almost unprecedented plethora of problems, both global and domestic.
In short, the party and the country are in crisis and call for strong and, most importantly, competent leadership.
This is no time for experimentation and wild gambling. After the turmoil of recent weeks – which followed months of Boris-induced power struggles – the Tory party needs to be stabilised, writes DAVID DAVIS
Just think of the range of challenges.
Internationally, the Russia-Ukraine war is creating a cascade of catastrophes that need to be dealt with. For example, OPEC’s move to limit oil production will exacerbate the existing energy crisis.
The division of the world into the blocs Russia-China and the Western Allies is endangering the enormous progress made in world trade since 1995.
Furthermore, the world has failed to transition out of the economic disruption of Covid and this will continue to create new problems.
Moreover, the end of the near-free debt era will come as a shock to everyone from mortgage holders to small businesses to nation states. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a European financial crisis in the next year or so.
At home we face a winter of strikes and energy shortages. Balancing the books will put enormous pressure on our public services. The NHS is facing a huge backlog of cases meaning tens of thousands of people will die needlessly until we fix it.
We could fill this page with the challenges facing the government.
In addition, the party needs to be stabilized after the turmoil of the past few weeks – which followed months of power struggles at the hands of Boris.
Credibility needs to be restored, and that means a high-profile cabinet supporting a high-profile leader. That’s why I don’t think the next leader should be Boris Johnson, writes DAVID DAVIS
Credibility needs to be restored, and that means a high-profile cabinet supporting a high-profile leader. This is no time for experimentation and wild gambling.
I don’t think the next leader should be Boris Johnson. The final months of his tenure as prime minister were a total mess, wreaking havoc on both the party and the country.
Towards the end of his tenure, he displayed poor judgment and a lack of leadership regarding Partygate, the Chris Pincher scandal and the general direction of politics.
In addition, we do not yet have the results of the Privileges Committee’s investigation into Partygate.
If the committee finds, as is likely, that Boris misled the House of Commons, he could end up being suspended or expelled from Parliament.
In other words, Boris could end up becoming prime minister and be sacked weeks later – just like Truss. That would mean another leadership election in a few months. That’s the last thing we need.
Honestly, the public will think we’ve lost our senses. Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak are both strong contenders for the top job. I supported each of them in phases of the last leadership competition.
Both have demonstrated competence and leadership in fulfilling their ministerial duties. I hope whoever wins the race, Mordaunt and Sunak will be part of the top team. This time, however, my vote goes to Rishi Sunak.
Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak are both strong contenders for the top job that DAVID DAVIS writes
First, he is the leader trusted by international markets, which, paradoxically, will save the government from having to create policies that dance to its tune.
Second, in the last leadership campaign, he showed character and courage by standing up for his side and showing the risks of the Truss policy.
He effectively predicted what would happen and turned out to be absolutely correct. He is the only candidate to have done so, despite opposition from the conservative press.
Most importantly, he would have the technical skills and intellect to provide the answers to the daunting problems we face over the next two years and enable our great country to attain its rightful place in the world.
It is also clear that Rishi’s election will stabilize markets, while Boris would destabilize them. No amount of showmanship and charm will make up for more expensive mortgages and more expensive groceries.
It’s not just about the leader, however.
In fact, at the root of many of the problems of the last two prime ministers lies in the fact that they have drawn their cabinets almost entirely from a narrow group of personal supporters.
Boris essentially picked a cabinet of cronies he believed could dominate them.
First, he is the leader trusted by international markets, which paradoxically will save the government from having to set policies to do its bidding, writes DAVID DAVIS
He excluded a large number of talented and experienced ministers and made Rishi Sunak Chancellor at the last moment because Sajid Javid refused to be bullied by Dominic Cummings.
Liz Truss made a similar mistake, telling Grant Shapps he was a good minister and articulate speaker, but that he was being sacked for not voting for her.
What party and country need is a real merit-based selection of ministers. It takes a cabinet of all talents.
Indeed, I was amazed that many ministers in the government would agree that we need a credibility reset, which in turn requires a cabinet reset.
Fortunately, the new rules will not allow a repeat of what happened in the last race, in which scores of candidates who knew they couldn’t win used the leadership election as a chance to land a job in the next cabinet.
The management process is not designed for this.
Ministers should be chosen on the basis of experience and ability, not as a reward for ambition, loyalty, or toady tongue.
The challenges we face, from economic instability to the failure of global trade deals and from huge NHS backlogs to the war in Ukraine, require an enormous amount of work.
Only with first-class ministers can we meet these challenges. This does not have to mean that the entire cabinet will be abolished.
In fact, it would be prudent to keep part of Truss’ top team and part of the broader ministerial team in place.
Ben Wallace, for example, excelled as Secretary of Defense and performed very well in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He should stay in office.
And above all, the next government must be able to maintain market credibility. That’s a strong reason for keeping Jeremy Hunt as chancellor. Hunt has managed to restore some stability during his tenure, although short.
Given the sensitivity of the markets, it would be too risky to sacrifice that credibility by appointing another chancellor – it would be the third in a few weeks and the fifth in a few months.
There are other capable people, but I won’t list them all. But we also need meaningful changes to bring a greater diversity of voices and depth of experience to government.
I hope whoever becomes the next prime minister will put together a true unity cabinet to navigate the many issues we face.
There is a lot of talent and experience on the back benches.
About 40 current backbenchers have previously served in Cabinet, and many more have served as junior ministers.
The next prime minister could choose from among all those with good reputations, proven experience and fairly guaranteed competence.
Our next leader should create a government of all talents, not a government of all their fellows.
The party faces a major challenge, but also an opportunity to ensure the return of effective government.
The events of the last few weeks and months have pretty much shaken the credibility of the government and the party.
A reshuffling of the cabinet with a number of members of proven competence will give renewed confidence to the public and the markets. This is the only way we can stand in the next election.
And that’s the only way the country can be given the leadership it so desperately needs.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11344323/DAVID-DAVIS-Rishi-Sunak-right-man-lead-chaos.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 DAVID DAVIS: Why Rishi Sunak is the right man to lead us out of this mess
