We are used to the fact that Rishi Sunak only has two speeds: blandly repeating his five political “priorities” and dutifully affirming the nastiest of his party’s rhetoric. When he’s not answering questions by reciting the five pledges, he’s attacking lefty lawyers, “woke nonsense” or inventing cruel ways to detain and deport asylum seekers. Both, to a certain extent, are performances: the robotic recitations to make clear that, after a series of reckless Tory prime ministers, a grownup is back in charge. The rightwing populist setting, meanwhile, is designed for his own party and the Tory press.
But sometimes another Sunak appears in flashes in a third speed: the self-pitying and frustrated prime minister. One who seems to say: look, you don’t understand how much I’m sacrificing for you people.
