Charitable souls will have sympathy for the Unfortunate Sunak – even if they disagree politically with him.
Six days ago on Tuesday 16th April 2024 when Liz Truss’s (aka Mrs Hugh O’Leary) book was published, Amazon had it for sale in hardcover form at £20.00 less a 20% discount. Thus, had I been so minded I could have purchased a copy for £16.00. I did not. Many would in retrospect suggest that this was a foolish move as Amazon is no longer discounting the book! They are selling it as £20 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ten-Years-Save-West-conservative/dp/178590857X)!
Being who she is, the work has received the expected critical reviews with the ubiquitous Wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Years_to_Save_the_West) being typically pushing at the very bounds of a neutral critique!
The Guardian’s (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/21/ten-years-to-save-the-west-by-liz-truss-review-economical-with-the-truth-about-her-own-downfall) damning appraisal was of course par for the course! In a peculiar way this might well have been for the best for had Andrew Rawnsley written a glushingly sycophantic piece, Mr O’Leary might have dropped dead on the spot from shock – leaving his wife a widow!
Of course the man who will be feeling very woeful from the Right Honourable lady’s success as an authrix will be our besieged Prime Minister, the Unfortunate Sunak! This woefulness will only increase as the Right Honourable lady is set to be lauded by the Republicans in the USA during the presidential election in that country!
The Right Honourable lady’s star is set to rise on the other side of the pond!
The Right Honourable lady – who was living in Leeds at the same time as I was – is an “Old Roundhegian” a former pupil of Roundhay School (https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/26/what-did-liz-truss-say-about-her-school-roundhay-comments-reaction-17068449/) and could be one of the few remaining Tory MPs (she being the Member for South West Norfolk) to survive the expected mass culling of Tory MPs following the upcoming General Election! That of course depends upon when the Unfortunate Sunak decides to make his party’s appointment at the gallows!
Should the Unfortunate Sunak (or a successor post the upcoming local elections) decide to run out the parliamentary clock the writ will be moved after the result of the US presidential election will be known – it being Tuesday 5th November! – “Bonfire Night” on this side of the pond!
The next election is scheduled to be held no later than 28th January 2025, with Parliament being dissolved no later than 17th December 2024. The date falls on a Tuesday, and there is a convention that British general elections are held on Thursdays, but this is not a strict requirement of the law. The election of 1931 was held on a Tuesday but all UK general elections held since 1935 have been held on Thursdays.
Originally the next election was scheduled to take place on 2nd May 2024; however, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 was repealed under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, so the incumbent prime minister can choose to dissolve Parliament before the fifth anniversary of its first meeting and call an early election.
The winner of the 2024 US Presidential election is scheduled to be inaugurated on Monday 20th January, 2025 – eight days before the last possible date of the UK’s General Election.
The Tories may well wish to exploit this apparent potential synchronicity.
Should President Trump be re-elected the Right Honourable lady might decide to not seek re-election and make it known that she would appreciate a life peerage! On the specific title, “Truss” is an unfortunate choice and the lady is of a sufficiently liberated opinion not to choose her husband’s surname. She might opt for Baroness Roundhay instead!
Why?
Because President Trump “has form” in terms of rewarding his loyal allies, friends and supporters and punishing his enemies and opponents!
He will want to reward the Right Honourable lady and might well conclude that he can serve the USA’s and his interests (Mr Trump believing the two interests are intertwined) by having the Right Honourable lady appointed as the 13th Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.
Mr Trump is a man who can hold a grudge!
During his visit to the UK, Mr Trump was very annoyed with the British Left as a result of this:
Should following his possible inauguration the UK had elected a Labour government by a tremendous landslide, he might want to indicate his feelings to the new UK government by having the Right Honourable lady as the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (https://www.imf.org/en/Home).
The present MD of the IMF is Doctor Kristalina Georgieva (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristalina_Georgieva [born 13th August 1953]).
On 29th September 2019, Dr. Georgieva was named the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to succeed Christine Lagarde (who was leaving to become the head of the European Central Bank’s executive board). She was the only candidate for the job, and is the first person from an emerging economy to serve in the position. IMF tradition was that candidates could not be older than 65 at the start of their term, but following pressure from French President Emmanuel Macron, the rule was waived for Dr. Georgieva. Dr. Georgieva’s 5-year term began on 1st October 2019. Only very recently on 12th April 2024, Dr. Georgieva was reappointed by the IMF executive board to serve for a second five-year term. She was the sole candidate.
Dr. Georgieva will be 71 years, 5 months and 8 days old on the day the next US President is inaugurated. A re-elected President Trump might insist that Dr. Georgieva retires – on the grounds that she is over the traditional retirement age possibly allowing her to retire on Saturday 12th April 2025 the anniversary of her second term. The irony of the situation will of course be ignored by Mr Trump!
A re-elected President Trump might insist that the 13th Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund is none other than Liz Truss who might well be Baroness Roundhay at that point!