Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain could find himself in a familiar predicament after his Conservative Party went down to defeat in parliamentary elections in two districts on Thursday: isolated, embattled and the subject of whispered plotting by restive Tories bent on pushing him out for a new leader. The crushing loss of two seats […]
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Why Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives Have Splintered Into Factions
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain faces a litany of woes, from a double-digit deficit in the polls to a grinding cost-of-living crisis. But this week, his biggest source of agita comes from the “five families,” a loose coalition of right-wing factions in his Conservative Party that is threatening, yet again, to torpedo his asylum […]
Read MorePlaying for Time, U.K. Leader Sets Up Chance of U.S. Election Overlap
When Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said this week that he was not likely to call a general election in Britain before the second half of the year, he was trying to douse fevered speculation that he might go to the voters as early as May. But in doing so, he set up another tantalizing prospect: […]
Read MoreBoris Johnson to Face Tough Questions at U.K. Covid Inquiry
Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister whose tenure was dominated and ultimately derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, apologized on Wednesday “for the pain and suffering and the loss” of those who died from the virus, as well as their families. Speaking before an official inquiry into his government’s handling of the crisis, Mr. Johnson […]
Read MoreCan Boris Johnson Keep His Cool at U.K.’s Covid Inquiry?
Boris Johnson, the ousted prime minister who led Britain through the pandemic, will testify before an official inquiry on Wednesday, giving his first detailed public account of how he grappled with a rampaging virus that divided his government, laid the seeds for his political downfall and nearly killed him. Mr. Johnson, who left Parliament earlier […]
Read MoreAnother Setback for Rishi Sunak in a Local Election
Britain’s governing Conservative Party, which is trailing badly in the opinion polls, lost one of its safest parliamentary seats on Friday in a significant new setback for the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who was also awaiting the result of another closely watched contest. Voting in the two Conservative strongholds of Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire took […]
Read MoreU.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Cancels Key Part of HS2 Rail Project
As Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain took to a stage in Manchester on Wednesday to give his first Conservative conference speech as party leader, he seemed determined to cast himself as a man of action who would rebuild his economically depleted country. But undercutting his claim to be a builder, Mr. Sunak’s most important […]
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