‘Best of a bad bunch’: voters share their views on Rishi Sunak

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Rishi Sunak has promised to serve “with integrity and humility” after he became Conservative party leader on Monday.

Sunak was announced as leader after his rival Penny Mordaunt failed to receive 100 nominations to reach the threshold to trigger a ballot and Boris Johnson pulled out on Sunday.

Five voters, who support a range of political parties, share their reaction to Sunak winning the race and the issues they hope his government will prioritise.

‘The economic stability of the country is crucial’

“I recently contacted my MP to say that should Boris Johnson be declared as a runner, I will be supporting all possible efforts to call for a general election. I’m glad to see common sense prevailed and Boris Johnson stood down. I was disappointed that the 1922 Committee didn’t lay out clearer guidelines on how the candidacy could be properly measured and we relied on Penny Mordaunt and others saying they had backings, but no evidence centrally of that. It’s just another failure of the committee and its disorganisation.

“The economic stability of the country is crucial as a short-term measure, it needs to be protected and beyond that a focus on the issues facing the electorate, principally around borrowing costs, and the social welfare and wellbeing of the people they’re representing. I’d like to see less focus on the Conservative party fighting internally on how to win the next election.”

Stuart Brooks, 64, mid-Essex, semi-retired from the automotive manufacturing industry – Conservative supporter

‘Best of a bad bunch’

“I think Rishi Sunak was the best of a bad bunch and probably does have integrity and is a decent human being. Being British Indian, I am also really pleased to see him win the race. He also understands the markets and will probably make better decisions for the economy than his predecessor.

“However, he is head of a fragmented party and will have to give top jobs to people who supported him but may not be the best people for the job. Being a remainer, I am also concerned he will not seek a closer, more harmonious relationship with the EU to keep the Suella Bravermans and Steve Bakers happy.” Smita Bhat, 45, Dundee, NHS consultant – Labour/Liberal Democrat voter

‘People need them to get a grip on the cost of living crisis’

“They have anointed someone of their own choosing, no one else has a say in [it]. There’s a sense of entitlement that they can go ahead and do that and we just have to watch.

“The audacity of thinking the Conservative party can foist yet another leader onto the country having just had a minuscule amount of the population be able to have a say in who represents us as the prime minister … No one is paying attention to the needs of the country, and the fact that it seems months since there was any sense of a government that is actually governing. [There is] no sense of being connected with everyday people’s concerns regarding the cost of living crisis.”

“The Conservatives have been in the middle of a circus – most people’s daily life has been secondary to keeping themselves in power. People need them to get a grip on the cost of living crisis.”

Sue Wilson, 54, Wealden, housing benefits adviser – Labour supporter

‘Public services barely working’

“I’m not confident Sunak will be a significant change in direction – I feel he was probably the natural choice. Boris would have been more alarming; Mordaunt I know very little about. Sunak is pro-Brexit – anyone that thought that was going to be anything but an unmitigated economic disaster is detached from reality. The one thing he won’t do is call an election and it’s the one thing he has to do.

“Public services are a shambles. The government has blown a hole in the balance sheet. I don’t see that there’s going to be room for anything but cuts. I don’t agree with that but they’ve left themselves no room for manoeuvre. The tax intake isn’t going to increase as long as Brexit keeps preventing businesses from growing. The priority is calling a general election so the British people may install an administration that can begin the long hard work of rebuilding the British economy.” Louis, 27, Cheltenham, biologist – Lib Dem supporter

‘The government needs to focus on how to support those poorest in society’

“I recently wrote to my MP to urge them to oppose the abandonment of the triple lock for pensioners and to urge them to ask the government to uprate all benefits in line with inflation. If Sunak sticks to the same ideas as Hunt there’s no guarantee the triple lock will be honoured or benefits uprated in line with inflation – it’s all back into the melting pot.

“We don’t know what Sunak is going to do, but judging by what he said in the summer, it looks more likely to be along the Hunt line: severe cutbacks and back to austerity. The government [has been] changing its mind day-to-day about uprating of benefits. Of more importance to the poorest people in the country, even more than pensioners, is that their meagre income is at least uprated in line with inflation.

“The government needs to focus on how to support those poorest in society. We’re a bit sheltered because the Scottish government has increased child payment and got rid of the bedroom tax – they’ve done what they can but there’s a limit to what they can do.”

Iain McDonald, 66, local government IT worker, Gordon – SNP supporter