Just over a week into Rishi Sunak’s premiership and the new prime minister has performed his first government U-turn. After Downing Street initially said Sunak would not attend the COP27 climate summit as he was too busy preparing for the 17 November Autumn statement, he will now go. Announcing the decision on social media, Sunak said: ‘There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend COP27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow’s legacy of building a secure and sustainable future’.

So, what’s behind the change of heart? There have been signs since the weekend that Sunak could go after all. The Prime Minister faced criticism from his own climate adviser Alok Sharma for skipping out on the event in Egypt. Meanwhile, Sunak’s predecessor Boris Johnson had made it clear he would attend – firing a potshot at those in the Tory party for whom last year’s COP26 had become unfashionable. Labour were also on the attack – suggesting Sunak’s absence would amount to a failure of leadership. Ultimately it’s two factors that led Sunak to change tack.

This U-turn also suggests that with enough pressure, the Prime Minister can change tack

The first is that it provides an opportunity to meet with many world leaders for the first time since he entered No. 10. The second is parliamentary management. There were enough MPs who had made it clear they viewed Sunak’s absence as a mistake that it focussed minds. Given the infighting and bad blood of the past few months, there is a key focus in the coming weeks on parliamentary management and bringing MPs on side.

The problem for Sunak is that this amounts to his first significant U-turn. While Sunak has scrapped some campaign pledges since entering No. 10, this was a decision he and his team made on entering office that they have now rowed back from. One U-turn alone may not be such a big deal. But if it becomes a pattern, MPs will begin to question whether they should defend government policy or go out to bat for their boss given the position could move again. It also suggests that with enough pressure, the Prime Minister can change tack. Ahead of a tricky fiscal event where different wings of the party will be asked to support measures they will find hard to swallow, that’s a narrative Sunak could do without.

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