By effectively ruling out accepting a cabinet position under Liz Truss, Rushi Sunak has made explicit what had been apparent since the first days of the Conservative leadership contest. The bitterness of their struggle and the fundamental nature of their disagreement over the economy has made it impossible for either to serve under the other.
As the runaway favourite in the polls, Truss is already planning the composition of her cabinet, which promises to be more radical than anything seen under Boris Johnson. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, an ideological soulmate who was one of Truss’s co-authors on the notorious libertarian pamphlet Britannia Unchained, is expected to be chancellor of the exchequer.
Attorney general Suella Braverman, who has called for Britain to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is tipped to be home secretary. Jacob Rees-Mogg is assured of a place in the cabinet and he is likely to be joined by figures from the wilder Eurosceptic shores such as Iain Duncan Smith and John Redwood.
NI protocol
Truss has not only promised to reverse Sunak’s tax rises and to cut other taxes but has made commitments to hardliners on everything from weakening environmental protection to rolling back LGBT rights. And she has left herself little room for manoeuvre on the Northern Ireland protocol, promising to persist with legislation to unilaterally scrap the agreement.
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[ Tory leadership race: Sunak says he would reject offer of cabinet job from TrussOpens in new window ]
Truss has benefited from Conservative party members’ anger over Johnson’s removal from office, with many blaming Sunak because he resigned in protest against the prime minister’s conduct. Johnson’s supporters in the press, led by the Daily Mail, are campaigning for the parliamentary privileges committee to halt its investigation into whether Johnson misled MPs over lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street.
A focus group by the Times this week found that party members preferred Johnson to both Truss and Sunak and polls show about half of them wishing he could stay on as prime minister. Truss has made much of her loyalty to Johnson, saying she would vote against the privileges committee proceeding if she could.
If she becomes prime minister, Johnson will immediately become a problem for her as he broods on the backbenches or holds forth on matters of public policy in speeches and newspaper columns. Like Donald Trump, with whom he has more in common than his admirers like to admit, Johnson has an interest in keeping alive the idea that he could make a comeback.
Truss’s interest lies in snuffing out such speculation and ensuring that his departure from political life is swift and irreversible. The privileges committee might do just that job for her.