That party that never happened, or did it, or didn't it.

[jamesbrown]

Front runners? Truss, Sunk, Gove.
Outsiders: Patel, Javid, Mogg.

Well, Truss and Sunak. Gove, no chance. Mogg, no chance. But, more often than not, it doesn't work out for the frontrunner; I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see Nadhim Zahawi in the mix, for example - more likely than Mogg or Gove.

[mattster]

Well, Truss and Sunak. Gove, no chance. Mogg, no chance. But, more often than not, it doesn't work out for the frontrunner; I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see Nadhim Zahawi in the mix, for example - more likely than Mogg or Gove.

Leftfield possibility (and rather a good one, IMO): Ruth Davidson?

[SueEllen]

Leftfield possibility (and rather a good one, IMO): Ruth Davidson?

She isn't an MP.

You need to be an MP to be PM.

[mattster]

She isn't an MP.

You need to be an MP to be PM.

Easily done if needed, although she'd have to renounce her peerage too, before being dropped into a byelection in a safe seat. There actually has been a lord as PM before but I believe it is no longer allowed, but still possible to be part of the cabinet.

[jamesbrown]

Leftfield possibility (and rather a good one, IMO): Ruth Davidson?

Certainly a plausible candidate to a reasonably sane electorate, but the Tory membership isn't exactly that. I suppose it's remotely possible if the polling showed that she was would put the Tories emphatically ahead, because all electorates like a winner but, realistically, she is too left wing and too much of a remainer for this electorate and she probably wouldn't want the job anyway.

For much the same reason, Sunak has probably got it in the bag if he can get through the upcoming energy/cost-of-living crisis and he didn't attend any illegal parties. Although Truss is appealing to the grassroots, they will see the same polling about who is more popular among the wider electorate and Sunak is really the only one that comes close to a pre 2020/21 Johnson. The rest would probably lose the next election for the Tories. Personally, I am not a fan of Sunak, but he could probably beat Starmer or, at least, not lose.

[jamesbrown]

Both the Con party leadership and the PM require you to be an MP at the time of being elected, although losing your seat during an election while PM would be a more interesting situation (if your party retained power).

[DaveB]

Easily done if needed, although she'd have to renounce her peerage too, before being dropped into a byelection in a safe seat. There actually has been a lord as PM before but I believe it is no longer allowed, but still possible to be part of the cabinet.

If they tried that I think you'd see a concerted effort from the two other main parties to agree not to fight each other on that seat and vote tactically to win it.

[WTFH]

Definitely not an attempt at sunlit-uplands deflecting by the Express, but they are running a story about how imports from outside the EU are up by 822%.

Although the devil is in the detail...
1. It was for the month of January last year (not the whole year, just the one month)
2. It was reported in May last year
3. It was for one vegetable - courgettes
4. It was for imports from Morocco

So, the actual story is that the UK imported more of one vegetable from one country that happens to be outside the EU in a particular month than it had for the same month a year previously.
Not exports, not some great trade deal, not wide-ranging, but a great distraction to those who need it.

[mattster]

Definitely not an attempt at sunlit-uplands deflecting by the Express, but they are running a story about how imports from outside the EU are up by 822%.

Although the devil is in the detail...
1. It was for the month of January last year (not the whole year, just the one month)
2. It was reported in May last year
3. It was for one vegetable - courgettes
4. It was for imports from Morocco

So, the actual story is that the UK imported more of one vegetable from one country that happens to be outside the EU in a particular month than it had for the same month a year previously.
Not exports, not some great trade deal, not wide-ranging, but a great distraction to those who need it.

According to one Twitter breakdown I saw, this amounted to about £650k (wholesale value) of courgettes. Win.

[mattster]

Certainly a plausible candidate to a reasonably sane electorate, but the Tory membership isn't exactly that. I suppose it's remotely possible if the polling showed that she was would put the Tories emphatically ahead, because all electorates like a winner but, realistically, she is too left wing and too much of a remainer for this electorate and she probably wouldn't want the job anyway.

Yes, agree with all that - just wishful thinking on my part trying to think of a Tory that is not too awful. Most in that bracket left at the last election. The Tory membership is indeed insane, a distillation of the all of the worst elements in the party (my parents in law are members). This is why it incumbent on the parliamentary Tories to keep the worst options away from the member vote, as they managed to do with Bojo for quite a while, until he looked like their only salvation.