Whatever the result, there is little alternative to Rishi Sunak remaining to provide stability and preside over a proper evaluation of the party’s problems, rather than a knee-jerk leadership election.
Rishi Sunak has said he is “incredibly angry” about the allegations, which have grown steadily worse since Williams, his parliamentary private secretary, admitted to having a “flutter” on a July election date.
The available evidence fails to generate much confidence. From Labour, we can expect the same, but worse: continuity with added virtue-signalling, and an utter unpreparedness for the coming crises.
Johnny Mercer and Fred Thomas – his Labour rival, and a former member of the Royal Marines – have been in a protracted public spat about the latter’s military record.
Until we understand just why the electorate is so sick of us, the chances of the Conservatives recovering any time soon are miniscule, however awful the election result.
. As being a Conservative MP becomes ever-less glamorous, the tendency to fall back on local councillors, SpAds, or staffers will only grow. Who else would want the job?
Hoping a later election would have changed the result is pointless. Sunak would not have changed, the strategy would not have changed, and voters would not have hated us any less.
Ahead of the general election, ConservativeHome has produced a list of all the new Conservative candidates in “winnable” seats, following CCHQ’s nominal 80/20 strategy.
A majority – 51.77 per cent – also believe their local associations were not ready to fight it.
Trapped between the Scylla of Davey and the Charybdis of Farage, the Conservatives trailing the Lib Dems in seats and Reform UK in votes is not an impossible prospect.
In the spirit of Jacob Rees-Mogg, I repeat some historical words of wisdom, often erroneously attributed to Lord Salisbury. Change? Why do we need change? Aren’t things bad enough as they are?
Electoral Calculus currently gives a 93 per cent of his former Bolton North East seat going to Labour.
Is this the Bohemian Rhapsody election: caught in a landslide, an escape from reality, where nothing really matters? Unfortunately, even if the Tory campaign is a mess, a Labour government is still a miserable prospect.
According to James Heale, this makes Allan the first Conservative MP to lose the whip after an election was called since Charles Wardle in 2001.
The loss of Michael Gove and almost 80 other current MPs promises a future parliamentary party denuded of experience and talent, whatever the election result.