On my bingo card: Rishi Sunak to be prime minister. Not on my bingo card: Boris Johnson makes his excuses.

benfell

(dis)United Kingdom

Prime minister


Fig. 1. President Reagan on the South Lawn during the arrival ceremony of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom. U.S. Government photograph, November 16, 1988, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

This was not on my bingo card:

Rishi Sunak could be installed as U.K. prime minister as early as Monday after Boris Johnson sensationally abandoned hopes of a return to No. 10 Downing Street.

In a dramatic statement Sunday evening after a weekend spent canvassing Tory MPs, Johnson announced it was “not the right time” for him to attempt a comeback when Liz Truss steps down this week.[1]

Before pressing on, let’s just update that: Rishi Sunak will be the next prime minister as Penny Mordaunt has now withdrawn from the contest.[2]

Boris Johnson claimed to have reached the 100-vote threshold, but more than a few folks accused him of bluffing,[3] and it sure sounded like a bluff to me. In a newsletter, the Guardian’s Archie Bland put it all together this way:

Right up until he bowed to the inevitable, Johnson’s allies were not just claiming that he could reach the 100 nomination threshold among MPs required – but that he had already crossed it. On Saturday, the BBC’s Chris Mason reported a campaign source saying that 100 supporters had been found. On Sunday, Johnson’s former chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris told a campaign WhatsApp group that they had the necessary nominations “to be on the ballot tomorrow”. Even in his exit statement, Johnson said 102 MPs were backing him.

Strange, then, that Johnson felt the need to hold “unity talks” with both of his rivals over the weekend. The briefing after the Sunak meeting suggested it did not go well: whereas a Sunak ally told the Sun that he was “keen to engage with any and all Tory MPs”, a Johnson source quoted in the FT said the former Chancellor needed to “put on his ‘big boy trousers’”. (This after beaming Johnson supporters praised him for tucking his shirt in at a meeting, which is very grown up of their little soldier.)

Strange, too, that only about 60 of those 102 MPs have backed Johnson publicly. His allies claimed that this was because many held party positions that meant they couldn’t go public; his rivals were deeply sceptical about this claim, suspecting instead that it was designed to foster the sense that his campaign was alive and kicking even as the votes piled up for Sunak. Even if the missing 42 supporters did exist, it’s not a great sign if the supposed Shy Tories phenomenon now extends to Tory MPs as well.[4]

Bland doubts that Johnson could have made the 100-vote threshold if he’d stayed in. Oh, the humiliation! Johnson, Bland thinks, was ducking the humiliation.[5]

I suppose it’s possible Bland’s analysis is wrong, but I’m sure not the one who can tell you that. A lot of folks are pointing to the Guido Fawkes spreadsheet. I’ve taken a screenshot from his article (figure 2, the actual spreadsheet is on Google Sheets) but this is more or less continuously updated, so just take it for granted that the screenshot is out of date and trundle your ass over to the correct place and understand that, at least as of the time I looked, Rishi Sunak’s last remaining rival, who has now withdrawn,[6] Penny Mordaunt, had a mighty steep hill left to climb and no time left to climb it in.[7]


Fig. 2. Screenshot of the Guido Fawkes spreadsheet, taken by author, October 24, 2022, fair use.

Although [Rishi] Sunak faces pressure from the opposition Labour Party to call a general election, under the U.K.’s parliamentary system he will be under no obligation to do so until January 2025, as he now commands the confidence of the largest party in the House of Commons. . . .

Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said Sunak had been appointed to the top job “without him saying a single word about how he would run the country and without anyone having the chance to vote,” as she repeated the opposition’s call for a general election. “Rishi Sunak has no mandate and no idea what working people need,” she added.[8]

I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Ben Riley-Smith, Christopher Hope, and Camilla Turner, ‘Rishi Sunak ‘passes 100 Tory MP threshold’ as he races to secure majority,” Telegraph, October 22, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/21/rishi-sunak-races-secure-majority-tory-mps-seal-coronation-leadership/

Matt Honeycombe-Foster to Sunday Crunch list, “D-Day looms—Rishi’s running — Baker’s blast,” Politico, October 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/

Jake Blanchard, “Rishi Sunak on course to be UK prime minister as Boris Johnson pulls out,” Politico, October 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-pulls-out-of-race-to-be-next-uk-prime-minister/

Rowena Mason, “Sunak closes in on No 10 as Johnson pulls out of race,” Guardian, October 23, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/23/rishi-sunak-surges-ahead-in-tory-leadership-race-as-rivals-struggle-to-gain-support

Archie Bland to First Edition list, “Why Boris Johnson pulled out,” Guardian, October 24, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/24/monday-briefing-why-boris-johnson-pulled-out/email

Eleni Courea, “Rishi Sunak to be crowned UK prime minister after last remaining rival drops out,” Politico, October 24, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-to-be-crowned-uk-prime-minister-after-last-remaining-rival-drops-out/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 3. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[9] fair use.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “3 wounded in shootings on South Side, Arlington,” October 24, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/10/23/pittsburgh-shooting-south-side-gas-station/stories/202210230184

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Police: Man shot and killed in vehicle in Wilkinsburg,” October 24, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/10/24/wilkinsburg-shooting-police-allegheny-county/stories/202210240052

South Side


Fig. 4. Jack’s Bar. Photograph by User:Piotrus, December 2007, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “3 wounded in shootings on South Side, Arlington,” October 24, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/10/23/pittsburgh-shooting-south-side-gas-station/stories/202210230184

Ukraine


Fig. 5. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[10] fair use.

I’m feeling really irritated about tankies this morning, you know, the folks who think any imperialism is fine and dandy as long as it isn’t U.S. or North Atlantic Treaty Organization imperialism,[11] and recalling that Russia is accepting volunteers for its fight.[12] Six months of service to Vladimir Putin is all they need to apply for Russian citizenship.[13] Perhaps they should put their muscles where their mouths are, that is, after putting their money where their mouths are for all the equipment the Russian army can’t supply them with.[14]

  1. [1]Jake Blanchard, “Rishi Sunak on course to be UK prime minister as Boris Johnson pulls out,” Politico, October 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-pulls-out-of-race-to-be-next-uk-prime-minister/↩
  2. [2]Eleni Courea, “Rishi Sunak to be crowned UK prime minister after last remaining rival drops out,” Politico, October 24, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-to-be-crowned-uk-prime-minister-after-last-remaining-rival-drops-out/↩
  3. [3]Jake Blanchard, “Rishi Sunak on course to be UK prime minister as Boris Johnson pulls out,” Politico, October 23, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-pulls-out-of-race-to-be-next-uk-prime-minister/; Rowena Mason, “Sunak closes in on No 10 as Johnson pulls out of race,” Guardian, October 23, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/23/rishi-sunak-surges-ahead-in-tory-leadership-race-as-rivals-struggle-to-gain-support↩
  4. [4]Archie Bland to First Edition list, “Why Boris Johnson pulled out,” Guardian, October 24, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/24/monday-briefing-why-boris-johnson-pulled-out/email↩
  5. [5]Archie Bland to First Edition list, “Why Boris Johnson pulled out,” Guardian, October 24, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/24/monday-briefing-why-boris-johnson-pulled-out/email↩
  6. [6]Eleni Courea, “Rishi Sunak to be crowned UK prime minister after last remaining rival drops out,” Politico, October 24, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-to-be-crowned-uk-prime-minister-after-last-remaining-rival-drops-out/↩
  7. [7]Guido Fawkes, “Who’s backing who: The spreadsheet returns,” October 21, 2022, https://order-order.com/2022/10/21/whos-backing-who-the-spreadsheet-returns/↩
  8. [8]Eleni Courea, “Rishi Sunak to be crowned UK prime minister after last remaining rival drops out,” Politico, October 24, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-to-be-crowned-uk-prime-minister-after-last-remaining-rival-drops-out/↩
  9. [9]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389↩
  10. [10]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  11. [11]Roane Carey, “Don’t Be a Tankie: How the Left Should Respond to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” Intercept, March 1, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/03/01/ukraine-russia-leftists-tankie/↩
  12. [12]Mary Ilyushina and Adela Suliman, “Putin welcomes foreign ‘volunteers,’ most from Middle East, to reinforce troops in Ukraine,” Washington Post, March 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/11/putin-foreign-volunteers-invasion-ukraine/↩
  13. [13]Agence France Presse, “Putin Eases Citizenship For Foreigners In Russian Army,” Barron’s, September 30, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/news/putin-eases-citizenship-for-foreigners-who-join-russian-army-decree-01664547908↩
  14. [14]Pjotr Sauer, “‘The army has nothing’: new Russian conscripts bemoan lack of supplies,” Guardian, October 20, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/20/the-army-has-nothing-new-russian-conscripts-bemoan-lack-of-supplies↩

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.