Rishi Sunak has become an ex-prime minister of Britain, after an uninspiring tenure following a decisive mandate against his Conservative party, which he led for two years.
He had inherited an economy in doldrums. He struggled to unite his fractious party. Many said he lacked both political experience and political instincts, while there was also consensus that he acquitted himself creditably when he was chancellor of the exchequer during Covid.
Though an immigrant himself he turned his back on immigrants and his government’s policy decisions on illegal immigrants were criticised widely as lacking in empathy. He was seen to be out of depth in his new job.
His party had won four consecutive terms in parliament elections and the working class were overcome with fatigue of incumbency and he bore its brunt as its leader in the latest general elections. It’s a dismal chronicle of a resounding defeat of his party that was foretold. The prediction of the exit polls, unlike in India, hit the bull’s eye on the Labour party touching 412 seats while the Tories struggled to reach 121 seats in a house of 650.
This is not an opinion piece on Sunak’s performance. This is about his grace in defeat, and magnanimity in victory shown by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who succeeded him. This is about decency in campaign politics in stark contrast to the vulgar, vituperative, raucous communal rhetoric that often descended to the gutters in Indian elections.
Most significantly it is a triumph of multi-culturalism and plurality of faiths in the United Kingdom of today, strikingly different from the erstwhile British empire that colonised large parts of the third world and the dark continent, which was exploitative, brutal, inhuman and racist over a span of 200 years.
The election results in the UK are quite unlike the election results in India. The contrast is evident in the composition of the new Lok Sabha and new cabinet. There is no single Muslim in the cabinet; nor is there proportional representation of women in the cabinet or the Lok Sabha. And more tellingly the ruling party does not have a single Muslim in the Lok Sabha while 15 per cent of Indians are Muslim.
Sadly the Indian elections do not mirror the rich tapestry of diversity of India which is deeply embedded in its core civilisational ethos and psyche. This is antithetical to the Hindu religion’s all embracing assimilative nature, which is one of its main strengths.
I am not glossing over the vestiges of racial prejudices and religious bigotry and ugly warts of the British society that are still extant. But the recent British elections are an emphatic affirmation of multiculturalism and the direction it is headed.
As many as 13 per cent of recently elected MPs in the House of Commons are black/Asian or of ethnic origin, up from 10 per cent in the previous house. Twenty-nine MPs are of Indian origin and 15 of Pakistani origin. Twelve are Sikhs. But this must be viewed in the light of Asians being only 8 per cent, blacks 4 per cent, Indians 3.1 per cent, Pakistanis 2.7 per cent of the British population.
So is the composition of the British cabinet, the previous cabinet and the present one. The important portfolios of chancellor of exchequer, home and foreign affairs have been entrusted to Asian or black people of different faiths. The mayor of the megapolis of London is a Muslim, the son of a Pakistani immigrant, for a third term.
There are more lessons to the victors and the vanquished.
Sunak graciously accepted defeat and congratulated Starmer who was invited to form the government. What stood out in Sunak’s brief speech on the occasion of his resignation was the remarkable candour in owning up the responsibility for the defeat of the party. He said sorry to his colleagues who had lost their seats. With touching humility he apologised and told the voters, “Yours is the only judgment that matters. I have heard your anger, your disappointment… Following this result, I will step down as party leader.”
He went on, “Sir Keir Starmer will shortly become our prime minister. In this job his success will be all our success… Whatever our disagreements in this campaign, he is a decent, public-spirited man, who I respect.”
But the most telling part of his speech was his reminiscences about his immigrant past. “One of the most remarkable things about Britain is… that two generations after my grandparents came here with little, I could become prime minister, and that I could watch my two young daughters light Diwali candles on the steps at Downing Street. We must hold true to that idea of who we are… That vision of kindness, decency and tolerance that has always been the British way.”
Sunak lost with dignity but won the hearts of his people.
Starmer began his first speech as prime minister by praising Sunak’s “dedication and hard work”. He paid rich tributes to his achievements as the first Asian prime minister of the UK and added that the country had voted decisively for change and return of politics to public service. “We need to move forward together. And your government should treat every single person in this country with respect,” he said. “whether you voted Labour or not, in fact especially if you did not, I say to you directly my government will serve you… Country first, party second.”
As a leader representing Labour, his emphasis as he concluded was on giving hope to the working class for a better future. But his challenges are many: fixing the economy; navigating the complex Brexit exit from the European Union; walking the razor’s edge balancing the extent of support to Israel in the war in Gaza with the indescribable suffering of Palestinian killings and casualties and destruction of their homes; the British involvement in Ukraine.
He has to reconcile the extreme left with the extreme right and move to the centre if he has to achieve any success. It has already dawned on him that it was easier to attack the government as an opposition leader. As the poet wrote, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”
Narendra Modi has become prime minister for a third term, a remarkable achievement. But his party which he led from the front as its sole face failed to get the full mandate of the people, who denied it a simple majority, thus forcing it to rely on coalition partners to form a government. In their native unerring and uncanny wisdom they felt they must rein in the ruling party which had run amok and crossed the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ by constantly stirring the communal pot with an eye on the Hindu vote bank.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during their Lok Sabha election campaign
Neither did they give a decisive mandate to the opposition INDIA bloc, noticing that they were not united with a common purpose nor a common leader with a pan-India appeal. But with great insight and foresight, the voters gave them a sizeable number of seats to be a credible opposition ensuring checks and balances on the ruling party.
The message to Modi and his party and its saffron affiliates, and to Rahul Gandhi and his INDIA partners, was loud and clear. To the BJP it was a wake-up call to stop the constant stirring of the communal pot that polarises society but focus on generating employment and equitable growth instead of favouring big businesses which results in skewed GDP growth without creating jobs at the base of the pyramid.
There was another significant message in Sunak’s speech that the INDIA bloc leaders should heed. He said he would step down from the party leadership for a new leader to be elected. In contrast, Sonia Gandhi hovers in the shadows as the Congress Queen Mother and Rahul the de facto supreme leader of the ‘family party’. And all the regional parties in the INDIA bloc are dynasts or autocrats or both.
Can there be genuine democracy in the country without internal democracy within parties?
There was no expression of contrition by Modi and his senior party leadership to the voters and no one owned up responsibility for the defeat. There was no sign that they heard the voters, nor assurance that they will learn from their mistakes and work towards uniting society. A ‘Modi guarantee’ that he will govern justly and fairly and listen to the opposition and encourage dialogue and debate would have redeemed Modi’s stature in his pyrrhic victory.
A similar gesture of remorse from Rahul and others apologising for the derogatory remarks and constant undignified personal attacks on Modi along with assurances that they will unite among themselves and bring back dignity to Parliament functioning would have elevated Rahul to the level of a statesman.
Starmer’s words must resonate in every heart of ruling party members: “Whether you voted Labour or not, in fact especially if you did not, I say to you directly my government will serve every single person with respect… Country first, party second.”
Captain G.R. Gopinath is a retired soldier, farmer and entrepreneur.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.
