Britain’s Draghi is the great survivor of British politics. He got his first Cabinet job in 2010 (as minister of culture, sport and digital), became the longest-serving health secretary (2012-2018), and served briefly as foreign secretary (2018-19) before Boris Johnson consigned him to the backbenches. He also ran for the prime ministership twice — once in 2019 when he came second to Johnson and then in the most recent round when he was eliminated in the first ballot. Until last week, it looked as if he was destined to be always the bridesmaid and never the bride.
Jeremy Hunt is UK prime minister in all but name. Liz Truss is nothing more than a spectre walking the corridors of power, occasionally wailing and clanking her chains. On Monday, she didn’t even take an “urgent question” — posed by Labour — on what on earth is going on, leaving the job to her former leadership rival, Penny Mordaunt. She also turned up late and looked miserable. Hunt is now both the public face of the government, routinely acting as its spokesman in parliament and the media. He is also its leading decision-maker, tearing up almost all of Truss’s budget and starting from scratch.
There are no parallels in British history. The nearest comparison for Hunt is Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank who was parachuted into power in Italy 2020 when Giuseppe Conte’s government collapsed.
