“The first Black leader of a Westminster party is a proud moment for our country. I look forward to working with you and your party in the interests of the British people.”
That is how Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the governing Labour Party, graciously greeted the news that Kemi Badenoch has been elected leader of the Conservative Party.
Her full name is Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch. She was born in London, though she grew up in Nigeria, the home of both her parents.
She held posts during the recent Conservative governments, though she resigned in protest of the leadership of Boris Johnson.
Other leaders from both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats also offered congratulations, but added reminders of the divisiveness and frustrations that accompanied the past for 14 years of Conservatives in power.
The last several Conservative prime ministers have had relatively brief tenures, punctuated by Prime Minister Liz Truss, who lasted just 45 days. As Prime Minister Truss’ problems rapidly escalated, the Daily Star tabloid pointed a webcam at a head of lettuce and questioned whether the lettuce would last longer than the prime minister.
The lettuce won.
The Economist inspired the lettuce gimmick by asking rhetorically whether the next prime minister could last longer than a head of lettuce. This effectively indicates current British frustration and cynicism regarding politics.
Brexit, shorthand for Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU), a principal source of turmoil, was finally carried out by the government of Prime Minister Johnson. The vexing details of disengaging from the EU were responsibly addressed by Prime Minister Theresa May, but Parliament rejected her complex plans.
Characteristically, Johnson ignored complexities and rammed Brexit through. This has created special problems regarding Northern Ireland. The province is in Ireland but under British sovereignty. To a significant degree, Britain’s current political disorder is a direct function of not addressing resulting economic and policy problems.
Prime Minister Truss brought forward a radical supply-side budget, including dramatic tax cuts at the top of the income scale. Global financial markets reacted quickly and severely. So-called “gilts,” short for gilt-edged security, issued by the Treasury and listed on the London Stock Exchange, immediately declined precipitously.
The Bank of England reacted quickly, of necessity, to stabilize the market. Otherwise, the British financial system could conceivably have collapsed.
In reaction, mass media focused on other financial markets, in particular in the United States. Could the same crisis unfold on this side of the Atlantic? Since the turn of the century, both Democratic and Republican administrations have presided over enormous fiscal deficits, and Federal Reserve Bank policies kept real interest rates very close to zero for years.
Nevertheless, a comparable U.S. financial crisis seems unlikely, though panics are always possible. The vast scale and wealth and unequaled global influence of the U.S. provide exceptional underwriting for public debt.
Britain lacks these obvious assets, but more subtle advantages include an effective military, skillful diplomats and a history of developing successful and often worthwhile alliances, not least with the U.S. The Ukraine war highlights the importance of these British skills.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Starmer’s immediate predecessor in office, has a strong Indian heritage. Hopes he might develop fresh, imaginative and successful policy departures were frustrated.
By contrast, Kemi Badenoch is not immediately faced with serving as prime minister. That is a valuable blessing.
More significantly, the election of a Black woman of African heritage demonstrates admirable, authentic inclusiveness.
Arthur I. Cyr is the author of “Liberal Politics in Britain.” Contact acyr@carthage.edu.