Rishi Sunak, who became Britain's prime minister almost a year ago, has a narrowing window of time to pull off an increasingly Herculean task: keeping his Conservatives in power at the next election.
It comes as Britain seeks to stop tens of thousands of migrants arriving each year aboard small boats on its southeastern shores from northern France. Last month, the government also announced measures to curb the use of gender-neutral toilets, which critics said was a blatant attempt to fire up the Conservatives' grassroots over a so-called "culture war" issue.
"There is a degree of populism about what he's doing," said Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, and author of a new book on post-Brexit Tory infighting.
"I think he has to do that, he feels and his advisors feel, to give them any chance of winning the next election."
AFP