If a mainstream candidate is needed, when next the Conservative leadership is contested, in order to stop some more ideological figure such as Kemi Badenoch, it is just possible that Cleverly might fit the bill.
Perhaps the answer is bound up with China – and our inability to focus on more than a single problem at once.
As the great eye of the Conservative Party swivels its gaze towards the Far East, it’s in danger of missing other threats that are closer to home.
Furthermore, the change creates a brand new cart to put before the horse – that’s to say, the awaited defence and security review.
Britain’s calling is to lead the Anglosphere, a great power almost no one has given nearly enough thought about.