When Rishi Sunak entered Downing Street last October it followed one of the most chaotic periods in the Conservative party’s history. Boris Johnson had been ejected by his own MPs who then installed Liz Truss. When her economic plan sent financial markets into panic mode, her MPs got rid of her, too.
As the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar, tells Nosheen Iqbal, Sunak had three main tasks: restore calm to the economy, stop the stream of scandals within his party, and try to unite its warring factions. The evidence of the first 100 days is a mixed picture.
He may have stopped the worst of the panic in the markets, but Britain’s economy is still in serious trouble. He’s already had to dispense with the services of two of his cabinet appointments and the party is still in mutinous mood, forcing him into several policy U-turns.