Facing difficult dilemmas

The next general election in the UK must be held in January 2025 at the latest. With no more than a year until the election, Rishi Sunak and the British Conservatives need a strategy to have a shot at turning the tide. Rishi Sunak has used the recent cabinet reshuffle to fill key positions in the wider government with trusted figures. With Lord Cameron in the Foreign Office, James Cleverly in the Home Office and the equally experienced Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Prime Minister Sunak now has a reliable team around him for the upcoming election campaign. In January of this year, he announced his "five priorities" - five political goals against which he wants to measure his personal performance as well as that of the government as a whole. In addition, the Tories are on the lookout for one or two further topics to be used as so-called "wedge issues", aimed at setting a clear contrast to Labour or the Liberal Democrats. It is likely that energy, climate and internal security could play a key role here. Rishi Sunak has now positioned his government and the party as he sees fit in terms of personnel and policy. He is therefore shouldering full responsibility for the outcome of next year's elections. Regardless of the results of the upcoming election, what will be decisive for the Conservative Party in the long term is whether it manages to regain that legendary adaptability, which has made it one of the most successful political parties in the Western world.

The full-length publication is only available in German.