TBH It's not that crazy to exclude Rory. He couldn't possibly lead the party in its current state, which is a sad fact but one has to be realistic. Any of the remaining contenders could, if necessary.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Given their behaviour in 2016, when May walked over them both, the same doubts about Johnson and Gove remain. Why did they stand aside in the first place?
Either he was gifted some backers for tactical reasons, or some MPs felt he deserved a shot at the debates, but did not see anything that made them think he should continue to get that support.
TBH It's not that crazy to exclude Rory. He couldn't possibly lead the party in its current state, which is a sad fact but one has to be realistic. Any of the remaining contenders could, if necessary.
Fair point. He's not as bad a fit as Corbyn is, but he wouldn't be a million miles off.
TBH It's not that crazy to exclude Rory. He couldn't possibly lead the party in its current state, which is a sad fact but one has to be realistic. Any of the remaining contenders could, if necessary.
I agree, and that's as a nominal Rory supporter. It wasn't his time this time and I knew that right from the start, but I want the others to have their feet held to the fire and that's happened.
I think the job of Tory leader at present is even more of a poisoned chalice than 2016 and I can't foresee the next leader lasting more than a year*
*Unless something magical happens and the WDA does get approved before approximately the end of November
Not odd at all. Anyone who saw last night's debate where Rory seemed unable even to work a chair will not have been surprised. The fact that we could use last night's shambles to explain any one of the five being eliminated need not detain us.
I suspect, however, that what did for him were the joke tweets he sent about Amess's 20-year Southend campaign and biscuits and so on. It is like Boris in 2016. You need to be seen to be taking the process seriously.
Please please please have all, or nearly all, of those MPs backing Javid/Rory and one of Hunt/Gove back the non Boris final option. It would be very funny if Boris somehow did not win the MPs ballot, or only just managed it.
Seems improbable though. Some number of those now freed up will like Boris better than the rest, others will jump on a winner. We can dream though.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Gove and Hunt will be desperate to talk to Stewart and Javid tonight. I'd not be at all surprised to see the Saj drop out before further ballots... there's no realistic route for him, and he's just seen from Stewart what happens if you hang on a day too long.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
TBH It's not that crazy to exclude Rory. He couldn't possibly lead the party in its current state, which is a sad fact but one has to be realistic. Any of the remaining contenders could, if necessary.
I agree, and that's as a nominal Rory supporter. It wasn't his time this time and I knew that right from the start, but I want the others to have their feet held to the fire and that's happened.
I think the job of Tory leader at present is even more of a poisoned chalice than 2016 and I can't foresee the next leader lasting more than a year*
*Unless something magical happens and the WDA does get approved before approximately the end of November
This - anyone who thinks they as PM can fix this Brexit mess is nothing more than utterly delusional.
It's not that crazy - centrism is in retreat before the populist left and right both here, and in the US, and in the EU, and in Australasia, and in India, and in Brazil.....
The Tories cannot allow - as they did once before by electing the charisma-vacuum May - the forces of populism to find their only electoral expression on the left. That's how Corbyn almost upended the country in GE2017.
Problem is Rory may have appealed to 2017 Labour and LD voters (the latter especially) but few if any would have voted for a Stewart led Tory Party.
However lots of 2017 Tories would have voted Brexit Party under a Stewart led Tory Party.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
In many ways you are right but remember also that Rory is no LibDem. Much of his programme was old-fashioned, fiscally responsible, one-nation Conservatism. Calling out rivals for pissing billions up the wall in gimmicky tax cuts would have been seen as orthodoxy just a few weeks ago. The current Chancellor made the same complaint.
And we can tell the tax cuts were gimmicks because Gove could not explain his new sales tax and Boris was rowing back on his tax cuts for the rich (and bribe for MPs) faster than Steve Redgrave.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
It’s painful when this happens. Sympathy and empathy.
Please please please have all, or nearly all, of those MPs backing Javid/Rory and one of Hunt/Gove back the non Boris final option. It would be very funny if Boris somehow did not win the MPs ballot, or only just managed it.
Seems improbable though. Some number of those now freed up will like Boris better than the rest, others will jump on a winner. We can dream though.
And the MPs don't have a final two ballot. Which is probably sensible, as quite often the winner at the round of 3 won't have an absolute majority and so a polite fiction can be maintained if the membership vote the other way.
It's not that crazy - centrism is in retreat before the populist left and right both here, and in the US, and in the EU, and in Australasia, and in India, and in Brazil.....
The Tories cannot allow - as they did once before by electing the charisma-vacuum May - the forces of populism to find their only electoral expression on the left. That's how Corbyn almost upended the country in GE2017.
Indeed, though centrist left liberals still in power in Canada, France and Spain.
The contest will be much duller with the telling questions Rory raised left unanswered. Will Javid now pull out ? .. if so the bun fight between Hunt and Gove will be ferocious.
Not odd at all. Anyone who saw last night's debate where Rory seemed unable even to work a chair will not have been surprised. The fact that we could use last night's shambles to explain any one of the five being eliminated need not detain us.
I suspect, however, that what did for him were the joke tweets he sent about Amess's 20-year Southend campaign and biscuits and so on. It is like Boris in 2016. You need to be seen to be taking the process seriously.
Rory was pretty terrible last night (in a terrible format where none could shine). e.g. they all kowtowed to the imam Abdullah (who, of course, turned out to be a Corbynite anti-Semite and misogynist who has now been suspended, well done the Beeb), but Rory was particularly cringe-worthy (and tacitly offensive), saying:
"I would firstly say to Abdullah as-salāmu ʿalaykum, and that I am very very very proud very proud to have you in this country."
God help us. I liked his style, he was refreshing and direct. But he needs to toughen up if he wants to win, one day.
Will be tempting for Boris to lend Hunt 30 votes tomorrow.
Hunt is surely the most dangerous opponent for Boris because he enables a direct comparison: Who was the better Foreign Secretary? Gove or the Saj would be easier opponents, and probably in that order.
It's not that crazy - centrism is in retreat before the populist left and right both here, and in the US, and in the EU, and in Australasia, and in India, and in Brazil.....
The Tories cannot allow - as they did once before by electing the charisma-vacuum May - the forces of populism to find their only electoral expression on the left. That's how Corbyn almost upended the country in GE2017.
Almost - he only won four more seats than Brown did in GE2010!
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
Please please please have all, or nearly all, of those MPs backing Javid/Rory and one of Hunt/Gove back the non Boris final option. It would be very funny if Boris somehow did not win the MPs ballot, or only just managed it.
Seems improbable though. Some number of those now freed up will like Boris better than the rest, others will jump on a winner. We can dream though.
And the MPs don't have a final two ballot. Which is probably sensible, as quite often the winner at the round of 3 won't have an absolute majority and so a polite fiction can be maintained if the membership vote the other way.
Figured that would probably be the case, but Gove 161, Boris 152 would have been pretty amazing.
Well, hopefully the eventual loser will be able to climb to 100 backers. 1/3 of the MPs will probably mirror what they get in the members vote.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
It’s painful when this happens. Sympathy and empathy.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
He wants a deal but how does he get one unless the EU are the greatest bluffers of all time? He would bring forth the WA with mere cosmetic changes to the PD again, with BXP breathing down his neck? Please.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
Will be tempting for Boris to lend Hunt 30 votes tomorrow.
Hunt is surely the most dangerous opponent for Boris because he enables a direct comparison: Who was the better Foreign Secretary? Gove or the Saj would be easier opponents, and probably in that order.
That's a good point.
Hunt could also point to his record as being an effective Health Secretary.
Effective that is for the purposes of the Conservative party, I'll let others decide how effective he was for health purposes.
TBH It's not that crazy to exclude Rory. He couldn't possibly lead the party in its current state, which is a sad fact but one has to be realistic. Any of the remaining contenders could, if necessary.
If Stewart has the opportunity to say "I told you so" in November he has to think about the best way to [not] do that. It would be all too easy - as the texts variably praising intellect in his fellow MPs show - to mishandle it and push people away rather than rally them to him.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into a death cult.
How uncharacteristically hysterical!
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
Will be tempting for Boris to lend Hunt 30 votes tomorrow.
Hunt is surely the most dangerous opponent for Boris because he enables a direct comparison: Who was the better Foreign Secretary? Gove or the Saj would be easier opponents, and probably in that order.
That's a good point.
Hunt could also point to his record as being an effective Health Secretary.
Effective that is for the purposes of the Conservative party, I'll let others decide how effective he was for health purposes.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
Yes. Exactly.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
If Boris tries to play games or manipulate others outside his party, he will come unstuck quickly.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into a death cult.
How uncharacteristically hysterical!
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
Both are true. However, clearly a no=deal crash-out is worse, it will never be forgotten.
In reality, I think all remaining Tory contenders (since Raab left the field) knew Stewart was broadly right on Brexit.
But they also knew that confronting the Tory Party with the "truth" wasn't actually the way to get to the right answer. The way was to win the leadership and steer it round using sleight of hand and the advantages a newly elected leader has and a discredited sitting PM lacks.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
Nah. He's not in favour of no deal Brexit, therefore he is basically a LD. As foolproof as those Telegraph comments sections calling David Cameron a LD. You could tell by the way he led the Conservative Party to a majority.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
He wants a deal but how does he get one unless the EU are the greatest bluffers of all time? He would bring forth the WA with mere cosmetic changes to the PD again, with BXP breathing down his neck? Please.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
Win a snap general election after the EU refuse to renegotiate (which Boris will only try for show anyway), hold a referendum in NI on the backstop, then use his majority to ignore the DUP and deliver the WA and a FTA for GB.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
Yes. Exactly.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
His body language when talking about tax cuts yesterday was awful. It was like he had been asked to eat his own lung. Negative and timid. Not surprised his support fled.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
Nah. He's not in favour of no deal Brexit, therefore he is basically a LD. As foolproof as those Telegraph comments sections calling David Cameron a LD. You could tell by the way he led the Conservative Party to a majority.
Cameron cut inheritance tax and income tax for low earners and called the referendum that enabled Brexit
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
Fortunately there is not a majority in the country for an anti EU pro rich people’s tax cutting party.
Will be tempting for Boris to lend Hunt 30 votes tomorrow.
Hunt is surely the most dangerous opponent for Boris because he enables a direct comparison: Who was the better Foreign Secretary? Gove or the Saj would be easier opponents, and probably in that order.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
You and Rory are really Peelite Liberals not Tories
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
It's an amusing thought that Margaret Thatcher's pro-European views would disqualify her as a Tory by present standards.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into a death cult.
How uncharacteristically hysterical!
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
Both are true. However, clearly a no=deal crash-out is worse, it will never be forgotten.
I agree its unlikely to be good, but a no-deal-crash-out Brexit may not be forgotten for all the right reasons. Elizabeth I made a foolish decision or two. They worked out, and magnificently so.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
Fortunately there is not a majority in the country for an anti EU pro rich people’s tax cutting party.
They openly talk about keeping no deal on the table to get a good deal, which completely undermines what little value that ever had as a negotiating tactic. Brinkmanship is dumb, as May found out. Telling the world you’re about to embark on brinkmanship is even dumber.
Yet that is what our next prime minister says they will do.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into a death cult.
How uncharacteristically hysterical!
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
Both are true. However, clearly a no=deal crash-out is worse, it will never be forgotten.
If I were Boris I’d try and get a three-way referendum through the House. It’s the only way this will be resolved. If MPs try and take May’s Deal or No Deal out then their names will be on the record and they’ll have to be accountable to their voters.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
It's an amusing thought that Margaret Thatcher's pro-European views would disqualify her as a Tory by present standards.
Thatcher also cut taxes and would have backed Leave in the referendum (she endorsed IDS and almost certainly Redwood after all)
Will be tempting for Boris to lend Hunt 30 votes tomorrow.
The Boris ego is so large that he will want every vote - and not give any away
Boris has already been playing games. That he has the support to do this shows just how far ahead he is. But they will all be there for the final vote tomorrow.
He must be wondering who would he like to face in the hustings though. Must be a part of him that would love to see Gove get eviscerated by the members for f*cking up the past three years under May.....
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
He wants a deal but how does he get one unless the EU are the greatest bluffers of all time? He would bring forth the WA with mere cosmetic changes to the PD again, with BXP breathing down his neck? Please.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
The key to Boris getting a deal through parliament by the end of October is simple. Take May's WA and massively increase the transition period from two years to (say) six or eight. This kicks the backstop into row Z, and gives years rather than three months to reach a final settlement.
It is the backstop that creates all the problems for the ERG so they can vote for Boris's WA with the cover story (which may even be true) that it will allow the development of technical solutions to the Irish border problem.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
You and Rory are really Peelite Liberals not Tories
In that case, most Tory leaders are not Tories. Thatcher, Churchill, Macmillan, Cameron, The lot.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
Yes. Exactly.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
What are the legacies of Mayor Johnson? Boris bikes, Water cannon's nobody can use or wasting money on bridges that cannot be built? Far from being a good Mayor he was a Night Mayor!
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
He wants a deal but how does he get one unless the EU are the greatest bluffers of all time? He would bring forth the WA with mere cosmetic changes to the PD again, with BXP breathing down his neck? Please.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
Win a snap general election after the EU refuse to renegotiate (which Boris will only try for show anyway), hold a referendum in NI on the backstop, then use his majority to ignore the DUP and deliver the WA and a FTA for GB.
Perhaps you could give us a rough sketch of how you see those events fitting in between 22 July and 31 October?
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The m.
Yes. Exactly.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
Then why was he a sh*t foreign secretary?
Of course I asked myself the same question. I think he was shit because 1. the Remainery media decided he was shit from the get go, 2, he really is prone to undiplomatic speech so making him Chief Diplomat was always a risk, 3, many of his colleagues abroad hate him for leading Brexit, so they were bound to make life tough, plus 4, a dash of his usual laziness and complacency, born of intellectual arrogance
The same problems will attach to him as PM, BUT in that job he will get to hire and fire the whole team, and run the whole show. It may just suit him better.
I am clearly whistling in the dark here, but when it is so dark, that's all you have left to do.
Will be tempting for Boris to lend Hunt 30 votes tomorrow.
Hunt is surely the most dangerous opponent for Boris because he enables a direct comparison: Who was the better Foreign Secretary? Gove or the Saj would be easier opponents, and probably in that order.
I think Gove would shit Boris up more.
Indeed. The problem with Hunt is that he's just a wet. I can't imagine him doing anything that would even risk poisoning his relationship with the likely winner and probable elevation to Chancellor. Gove on the otherhand...and he knows where the Brexiteer bodies are buried and probably possesses a better technical understanding of the vagaries of Brexit than Boris does.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
Yes. Exactly.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
What are the legacies of Mayor Johnson? Boris bikes, Water cannon's nobody can use or wasting money on bridges that cannot be built? Far from being a good Mayor he was a Night Mayor!
Indeed it looks like some games are being played. last two votes have firstly seen the primary rival on the right for Johnson being eliminated, followed by the preciptious drop in Stewarts support today.
If Johnson is pulling strings then the question is if he lends votes to his favoured opponent in the final round, or pulls 'home' all the votes to himself to give himself the biggest mandate.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
Whilst I think that’s true he didn’t actually say that, which I think was one of his biggest problems.
His rhetoric was often non-Conservative and at odds with his real position.
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
He wants a deal but how does he get one unless the EU are the greatest bluffers of all time? He would bring forth the WA with mere cosmetic changes to the PD again, with BXP breathing down his neck? Please.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
Win a snap general election after the EU refuse to renegotiate (which Boris will only try for show anyway), hold a referendum in NI on the backstop, then use his majority to ignore the DUP and deliver the WA and a FTA for GB.
You think Boris will run a GE with that as a plan? Surely running promising no deal is the only way to neutralise BXP?
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Ditto. The good news - in a sense - is that Boris is likely to very soon face a 'conquer-or-die' moment that risks his rapid and humiliating ejection from the position he has sought all his life if he fails.
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
Yes. Exactly.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
What are the legacies of Mayor Johnson? Boris bikes, Water cannon's nobody can use or wasting money on bridges that cannot be built? Far from being a good Mayor he was a Night Mayor!
The clever, ruthless way Boris and his team have commanded and manipulated this entire election, gives me very very very faint hope he might not be a total disaster as PM.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
The reason it is faint is that this part is within his control and he has probably spent most of his time in the last few years working toward it. But he cannot control parliament so easily, or the EU.
Boris voted for the Withdrawal Agreement remember, he wants to deliver Brexit and a Deal but needs to be elected leader first and has now eliminated his most dangerous opponent, Raab and the candidate with the most momentum, Stewart
He wants a deal but how does he get one unless the EU are the greatest bluffers of all time? He would bring forth the WA with mere cosmetic changes to the PD again, with BXP breathing down his neck? Please.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
Win a snap general election after the EU refuse to renegotiate (which Boris will only try for show anyway), hold a referendum in NI on the backstop, then use his majority to ignore the DUP and deliver the WA and a FTA for GB.
Perhaps you could give us a rough sketch of how you see those events fitting in between 22 July and 31 October?
PS Don't forget the legislation that will be needed after the Withdrawal Agreement is approved. Last time around I believe people were allowing nearly two months for that.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
It's an amusing thought that Margaret Thatcher's pro-European views would disqualify her as a Tory by present standards.
Thatcher also cut taxes and would have backed Leave in the referendum (she endorsed IDS and almost certainly Redwood after all)
When you say Thatcher cut taxes, you forget the first thing she did was increase taxes.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into a death cult.
How uncharacteristically hysterical!
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
The 17.4 million were given the opportunity to vote Tory in 2017 and they decided they did not want to do that...
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into a death cult.
How uncharacteristically hysterical!
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
Both are true. However, clearly a no=deal crash-out is worse, it will never be forgotten.
The people who would never forgive us have already stopped voting for us, and aren’t going to for another 10 even if we end up staying.
Can you explain why the Tory Party should pay such heed to people who have no intention of supporting it?
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
He's anti stupid and irresponsible tax cuts, which is bang slap in the middle of Conservativism. And he's anti a chaotic ideologically-driven crash-out which would destroy jobs and disrupt citizens' lives, which is pure Conservativism.
You and Rory are really Peelite Liberals not Tories
In that case, most Tory leaders are not Tories. Thatcher, Churchill, Macmillan, Cameron, The lot.
Well, all those years of Labour government were not really Labour government either, so one does wonder who on earth has been ruling us for so many years.
In all seriousness, while I have criticised parties for attempting to pretend unity, to claim a bigger tent of support than is reasonable or reflects reality, some really do go so far in the other direction, arbitrarily deciding certain strands of conservatism or labour are not really Tories or Labour after all, much to their own shock I am sure.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
Or of leading a new centre-right One Nation Party if Boris is stupid enough to crash us out in chaos and thereby convert the Conservative Party into an unelectable death cult if it's not one already.
Rory is anti tax cuts and anti hard Brexit, his agenda was more LD than Tory.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
It's an amusing thought that Margaret Thatcher's pro-European views would disqualify her as a Tory by present standards.
Thatcher also cut taxes and would have backed Leave in the referendum (she endorsed IDS and almost certainly Redwood after all)
"Would have" backed Leave in the referendum?
Surely you've discussed it with her many times ...
Comments
Seems odd he's lost MPs.
Faint. I did say faint. Faint hope.
Your little narrow band of extremists won't win a General Election. Just so you know.
However lots of 2017 Tories would have voted Brexit Party under a Stewart led Tory Party.
Rory has more chance of being the next Liberal PM than a Tory one
I think the job of Tory leader at present is even more of a poisoned chalice than 2016 and I can't foresee the next leader lasting more than a year*
*Unless something magical happens and the WDA does get approved before approximately the end of November
I suspect, however, that what did for him were the joke tweets he sent about Amess's 20-year Southend campaign and biscuits and so on. It is like Boris in 2016. You need to be seen to be taking the process seriously.
Seems improbable though. Some number of those now freed up will like Boris better than the rest, others will jump on a winner. We can dream though.
The Tories cannot allow - as they did once before by electing the charisma-vacuum May - the forces of populism to find their only electoral expression on the left. That's how Corbyn almost upended the country in GE2017.
And we can tell the tax cuts were gimmicks because Gove could not explain his new sales tax and Boris was rowing back on his tax cuts for the rich (and bribe for MPs) faster than Steve Redgrave.
Who is going to lead any kind of drive to compromise now?
The contest will be much duller with the telling questions Rory raised left unanswered. Will Javid now pull out ? .. if so the bun fight between Hunt and Gove will be ferocious.
"I would firstly say to Abdullah as-salāmu ʿalaykum, and that I am very very very proud very proud to have you in this country."
God help us. I liked his style, he was refreshing and direct. But he needs to toughen up if he wants to win, one day.
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics
Well, hopefully the eventual loser will be able to climb to 100 backers. 1/3 of the MPs will probably mirror what they get in the members vote.
He may as well join Umunna in the LDs if he really wants to be PM, there is little room for a pro EU, anti tax cut 2nd Tory Party
Just as a classic conservative believes that bakers bake and butchers make sausages in their own interest, not the public's, and yet both sides benefit from the exchange, so I think the fact that Boris' career will be on the line from the very beginning of his premiership should help to force out the best in him.
15 of those votes could disappear next time.
Wanting a deal has never been a problem with the Brexit process. Getting one through parliament is. Boris eventually backed the WA, but everyone now in the race says they can get a better one. If he, or they, cannot, they seem keener on no deal than returning to the deal that already exists.
Hunt could also point to his record as being an effective Health Secretary.
Effective that is for the purposes of the Conservative party, I'll let others decide how effective he was for health purposes.
17.4 million people voted for Brexit. Many of them would vote Tory if there were economic disruptions, provided that Brexit has been delivered. Few will vote Tory if we don’t.
The only thing that will utterly destroy the party is cancelling Brexit. If it doesn’t happen and someone else can be blamed, we will survive, but be out of power for a generation.
And also Boris is actually quite good at several things (and terrible at others). Importantly, he is a good hirer and delegator, he spots talent, he employs bright people, he's open to being persuaded - it's one of the reasons he was an effective London mayor. He knows how to put together a decent team - he's clearly done it for this campaign.
Teresa May did not have these skills and that's one reason she was a total disaster.
As for NI, if that went it would be much better for our taxes and resolve this whole problem neatly.
But they also knew that confronting the Tory Party with the "truth" wasn't actually the way to get to the right answer. The way was to win the leadership and steer it round using sleight of hand and the advantages a newly elected leader has and a discredited sitting PM lacks.
If the objective is to piss him off then they should all go to Gove.
Also bad things get forgotten sooner.
Yet that is what our next prime minister says they will do.
This HoC will block anything else.
He must be wondering who would he like to face in the hustings though. Must be a part of him that would love to see Gove get eviscerated by the members for f*cking up the past three years under May.....
It is the backstop that creates all the problems for the ERG so they can vote for Boris's WA with the cover story (which may even be true) that it will allow the development of technical solutions to the Irish border problem.
All he needs is a majority then he can tell the DUP to sod off and deliver it
The same problems will attach to him as PM, BUT in that job he will get to hire and fire the whole team, and run the whole show. It may just suit him better.
I am clearly whistling in the dark here, but when it is so dark, that's all you have left to do.
If Johnson is pulling strings then the question is if he lends votes to his favoured opponent in the final round, or pulls 'home' all the votes to himself to give himself the biggest mandate.
I think the latter is more sensible.
His rhetoric was often non-Conservative and at odds with his real position.
The media fawning can end now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Gateway_Bridge
PPS Don't forget the Summer Recess.
Can you explain why the Tory Party should pay such heed to people who have no intention of supporting it?
In all seriousness, while I have criticised parties for attempting to pretend unity, to claim a bigger tent of support than is reasonable or reflects reality, some really do go so far in the other direction, arbitrarily deciding certain strands of conservatism or labour are not really Tories or Labour after all, much to their own shock I am sure.
Surely you've discussed it with her many times ...