Matthew Parris – 2022 Comments Backing Rishi Sunak for Conservative Leadership

The comments made by the former Conservative MP Matthew Parris in an article in the Times on 8 July 2022.

We are heading into very rough water — government will not be liked but must try to be respected. Brains, experience, honesty, decisiveness, hard work, personal decency and the ability to reassure: these are what we need to see. Huge challenges need huge ability. Complex policymaking needs a superb presiding mind. Serious times need leadership that is utterly serious about itself and its duty. And a nation that has surfeited on froth, nonsense and deceit — what Sunak in his campaign video yesterday called “fairytales” — is hungry for honesty, ready to hear the truth. I see two figures who could take this upon their shoulders, but Michael Gove isn’t standing. I know Rishi Sunak and his family only slightly, but my impression is clear and strong. He’s a good man, and he could do the job.