After seven decades as the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth Alexandra, simply known as Queen Elizabeth II, takes a final bow as her remains is laid to rest to pave way for a new era. King Charles III is the new Monarch.
By divine providence, barely 48 hours to the Queen’s last breath, Elizabeth Truss became the fifteenth Head of Government to shake hands with the late Queen as the Head of State of the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Liz Truss has now taken full charge as the Head of Government.
PM Liz Truss started as a liberal democrat in her days in the university. She was the president of Oxford University Liberal Democrats. In a dramatic twist of history, she now finds herself on the right wing, not just as a conservative but leader of the conservative party and by extension the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
There is an interesting side to the story. PM Truss was a major campaigner for the abolition of the monarchy in her teenage years in the university when she was a liberal democrat by heart. To think that PM Truss now works directly with the palace to get approvals for her policies reinforces the maxim – never say never. From there, I took a lesson.
The other lesson I picked from the background of the leaders that evolve in the UK is that leadership is serious business. Beyond the UK, it has been proven everywhere else that for governance to stand on institutional framework, the process of choosing leaders must be deliberate but not accidental. Until the third world countries get rid of accidental leadership, development will be elusive.
PM Liz Truss takes the mantle of leadership in the middle of a major economic crisis that ravages not only the UK but the larger world. She inherited an energy crisis fom the ripple effects of the Russian/Ukraine war. For the first time in 40 years, inflation in the UK rose to as high as 10.1%. Perhaps respite knocks as the last count of inflation dropped 20 basis points to close at 9.9% compared to 10.1% in August 2022.
The expectation from PM Truss is so high, expectedly so. She has so much to do to prove pundits wrong. There are concerns about conflict of ideology and success in leadership position, particularly in moments of crisis. She started as a liberal democrat and now she is at the top echelon of the right wing. That has its implication in moments of truth when difficult decisions are required.
At the peak of the Brexit brouhaha, the new Tory leader and head of government was originally a remain campaigner and supporter of the ‘Britain stronger in Europe’ appeal. She declared her support for Brexit as soon as the referendum voted in favour of Brexit. Call it surrendering personal beliefs to the love of country. That is patriotism. For that, she can be excused.
PM Truss is the third female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after PM Margaret Thatcher and PM Theresa May. Incidentally, all three are/were conservatives. PM Truss would have to up the game so she won’t be caught in the web of confusion that PM May found herself when she accepted to lead the UK out of the European Union, not minding that she originally did not believe in it.
Much as she tried, PM Theresa May could not eventuate the wishes of 52% citizens of the UK who voted to leave the EU. She fell to the common saying that you cannot achieve what you don’t believe. PM Truss has a burden to prove this assertion wrong for her to be on the right side of history as she folds her sleeves to get to work.
The bigger part is to assume that PM Truss must, by now, have totally purged herself of her youthful activism when she led a campaign for the abolition of the monarchy. From the love that the British people have shown to the palace in honour of the late Queen, it goes without mention that the monarchy is still a widely accepted form of government in the United Kingdom.
The race to the leadership of the Conservative Party was keenly contested but the eventual outcome made a clear statement that the UK is not yet ready for a Prime Minister of mixed race or nationality. By her composition of the most diverse multi-racial cabinet in the history of the United Kingdom, PM Truss has attempted to douse that belief. What she is able to make with the dynamic cabinet will be for posterity to reference.
I join to wish PM Liz Truss a purposeful leadership of the United Kingdom at this critical period. I wish King Charles III a peaceful reign. God save the King.
©️Akin Oluwadare Jnr
19 September 2022
