Rishi Sunak’s ‘Superman’ persona

With many British voters seeing Rishi Sunak as a weak personality, he is determined to present them with a new persona. Last week, we saw the fallout. 

He is not the diminutive “man-child,” fresh from wearing his school uniform, who looks for orders from his superiors. It is not true that he only eats marmalade sandwiches like Paddington Bear. He is not the third-choice PM who was only given the job because his two predecessors were, in turn, a congenital liar and an economic idiot. Boris Johnson is dismissed as a disgrace to the office of PM, but Rishi cannot bear how people only pity or patronize him. Boris was an all-too-colorful figure that filled a room; Rishi’s profile by contrast is like some wet cardboard on the floor.

When Rishi looked in the bathroom mirror last Monday, he decided this was the day when he would reveal his inner “Superman” persona to the British public. He had been Mr Nice Guy and everyone had ignored him. People saw him as simply being there to delay the arrival of Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, as PM. Today, he would force people to notice him, to talk about what HE had said. The best thing was for him to not speak about how the economy was improving, though, because few would believe him. No, it was better to think of a new issue, something about being “British” and standing up for ourselves after “Brexit.”

When faced with a comic government, the best way to stay sane is to laugh. All other options involve embarrassment and despair

He looked at his diary for the day. Who was this Greek guy there in his schedule? Confusion turned to irritation when an aide reminded him he was the foreigner who appeared on British TV over a year ago and viewers wrote in afterwards to demand he become our PM. Irritation turned to anger when Sunak was told the foreigner was meeting Keir Starmer and he was doing so first. “Does no one respect me?” he wept. But then a weasel-like aide changed Rishi’s spirits. The Greek PM had been on our TV again decrying how Britain insisted on keeping marbles it had perfectly reasonably looted from the Parthenon 200 years ago. And Starmer had already signaled he kind of agreed with this foreigner. So, this was “little” Rishi’s opportunity to play “big”: He’d cancel his meeting with this Greek guy and tell him what was ours would stay ours! Rishi would be on the front pages, and people would take him seriously for a change. Save Our British Marbles!

Oh dear… In writing about politics for over 40 years, I’ve learnt to develop a psychological defense. When faced with a comic government, the best way to stay sane is to laugh. All other options involve embarrassment and despair. Unfortunately, there is a serious undercurrent, however.

We live in an era when politicians across Europe are choosing to fight “culture wars,” often as a distraction from economics. Geert Wilders in the Netherlands is only the most recent example. Immigration is a perfect issue to feed this new politics: protecting our national identity against external incursions. Sunak continues to claim he will “stop the boats,” but migrant numbers continue to rise ever higher. So, he looks for other issues to enable him to defend Britain and its history. The issue of the Parthenon Marbles entered the equation, even though its news value at home might only last a couple of days.

It is, indeed, a sign of Sunak’s desperation that he chose the issue of the sculptures. When the news broke of the meeting being canceled, I was on stage at the LSE “in conversation” with George Gerapetritis. I was incredulous at Sunak’s choice. For the vast majority of Brits, the issue of the marbles is one they know little about and don’t really care about. It doesn’t impinge on their everyday lives. True, opinion polls now show clear majorities agreeing the marbles should be returned, but these are attitudes that lack intensity. Nor is it an issue that animates more than a few MPs in his party.

The political fallout from canceling Mitsotakis this week was not what Sunak would’ve hoped for. Number 10 had to hint that Mitsotakis had broken a promise not to speak about the marbles. When it senses it’s losing the media battle, the tactic of choice is now to lie. Why not?

The reality is that Sunak’s actions last week might actually improve the prospects for a bilateral deal on the marbles. Senior Conservatives outside the government have criticized his behavior, distancing themselves from his puerile gesture. And, in the public psyche, an unpopular PM has made the wrong choice. George Osbourne, chair of the British Museum, continues to think a deal is possible. The tide is against Rishi’s little sandcastle. 

Kevin Featherstone is director of the Hellenic Observatory at the London School of Economics.