Rishi Sunak’s reputation for being tetchy has been seen in previous prime ministers – and it doesn’t end well

By Ben Williams, Edge Hill University

There are few more high-profile and pressurised jobs than leading a country. So it’s perhaps not surprising that the pressure appears to be getting to British prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Lagging behind in the polls and with an election inexorably looming this calendar year, Sunak has recently garnered a reputation for being tetchy. He has appeared irritable when asked fairly basic questions during press conferences about his policies and his government’s general record in office.

In December, he became spiky with journalists asking about his Rwanda deportation plan at a press conference that he himself called on the very same subject. In November, he suddenly cancelled a meeting with Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, apparently irritated by the latter speaking publicly about the Parthenon marbles. In this case, Sunak passed up on the opportunity to discuss immigration with a key ally in what was seen as a move motivated by petulance.

In historical terms, Sunak’s behaviour is perhaps not surprising. Plenty of other prime ministers have shown themselves to have a short fuse. In fact, this is perhaps to be expected when an embattled premier is under extreme pressure and appears backed into a corner from a number of different directions. That doesn’t however, make it a good idea.

An obvious historical comparison for Sunak’s current predicament is John Major, who spent much of his final term dealing with a barrage of crises. These included Black Wednesday, when the UK was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and a litany of sleaze scandals engulfing his MPs. He led a poisonously divided cabinet of ministers, several of whom Major described as “bastards” in a hot-mic moment following a TV interview.

Major’s government was eventually destabilised to such a degree that he decided to resign as leader of his party and run for re-election to the position in 1995, all while still in the job as prime minister.

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