Sunak's time in power may be limited, but he's still playing the long game

The question of how Rishi Sunak will be remembered remains unanswered

Legacy was the buzzword of the week in Westminster while Liz Truss was hard at work has been touring TV studios to promote her new book, Ten Years to Save the West.

She may have only been in office for 49 days, but in her attempt to rebrand herself as the “only conservative in the room,” the 48-year-old the former prime minister appears determined not to be a mere footnote in history.

Meanwhile, her predecessor Boris Johnson continues to write his autobiography, which one ally described as “less a life story than a treatise on leveling up.”

As Sir Winston Churchill said: “History will be kind to me.” , because I intend to write it.»

Liz Truss seems determined not to condescend to become a mere footnote in history < p>The question of how Rishi Sunak will be remembered remains unanswered amid all the uncertainty about what the next six months will bring.

Despite the Conservatives trailing Labor by 23 percentage points, the Prime Minister appears , is determined to maintain the focus on «long-term solutions for a brighter future» in the spirit of last year's Tory conference slogan.

Even if, as polls show, the 43-year-old doesn't take office in 2025, it's all about making what he called «meaningful» changes «that will benefit our children and grandchildren for decades to come.»

The Conservatives may be facing electoral Armageddon, but the ever-cheerful Mr Sunak and his equally hopeful team appear to believe it will all be worth it if they «leave Britain in a better place».Acting in the «national interest» is now considered more important than striking at Sir Keir Starmer's resurgent Labor Party, which supporters will interpret as a mature government and critics will see as politically naive idealism.

On Friday, having With this altruistic approach in mind, he has announced plans to overhaul the benefits system to ensure that people able to work «are not left behind».

Prime Minister's vision of a «new welfare deal for Britain» is underway amid an unprecedented rise in inactivity due to long-term illness. Latest data shows that almost a third of working-age adults are inactive.

He outlined five reforms that would help modernize the social security system «to ensure it is fit for the future.»

It comes after a week in which a number of «legacy» projects have been delivered to ensure Mr Sunak is not forgotten even as his youthful portrait gathers dust on the stairs of Downing Street.

His proposed smoking ban, which passed its first parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to people born after January 1, 2009. realizing the Prime Minister's dream of creating a smoke-free generation in the coming decades.

If the flagship Tobacco and Vaping Bill becomes law in the coming months, as expected, Mr Sunak will forever be remembered as the man who stopped smoking for children, regardless of the results of the general elections.

Could a social care media ban for children under 16 also be in the near future as part of Sunak's legacy project? The government is expected to unveil plans to tighten age restrictions for apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp, which currently allow children as young as 13 to register as members.

As part of the proposed consultation, parents will also discuss banning children under 16 from buying smartphones and whether additional security measures should be put in place to allow parents to monitor and control access to social networking sites until children reach a certain age. .

Will Tanner, Mr Sunak's deputy chief of staff, is also said to be actively involved in the proposals, suggesting they have already been involved. in developing these proposals. support for the Prime Minister in principle, even though they could potentially put him on a collision course with Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

“As a parent, I'm always worried about social media media and what my young girls are exposed to,” the prime minister, a father of two, said in February.

Facing the prospect of a shorter term in office than all but one of his immediate predecessors, didn't stop him from playing the long game.