Who is popular today?

The chancellor came into the job as the PM’s poodle, but now Boris looks the needy lapdog
Some are born lucky, some achieve luckiness and others have luckiness thrust upon them. It’s not yet clear into which category Rishi Sunak might fall, but it’s looking entirely possible that the chancellor qualifies for all three. A hat-trick for which every chancellor in history would have sold their souls has landed gently in his lap.
When Sunak became chancellor last December, he was widely written off as Boris Johnson’s poodle. The man who would happily sack all his special advisers and follow his master’s every word just to get his hands on one of the four main offices of state. How things change. Now it’s Rishi who looks the master and Boris the needy lapdog. Where Boris frequently looks a bit shifty, uncertain of the facts and prone to contradiction at the daily Downing Street press conference, Sunak was totally assured as he outlined his aid package for the self-employed. A prime minister in waiting – and probably not for very long. Continue reading...