The camp supporting backbench Tory MP Adam Afriyie in a possible leadership bid have been busy, managing to get whispers of their planned coup into three Sunday newspapers (the Sun on Sunday, The Sunday Times, and the Mail on Sunday). Whether or not Afriyie is a popular backbencher who managed to soothe colleagues over toasted teacakes in the Pugin room, and whether or not he’s the ideal person to lead the Tory party after Cameron, the timing for the Windsor MP of the plot appearing in print couldn’t be worse.
This time last week, it wasn’t difficult to find a clutch of MPs who would gloomily mourn the direction their party was going in. There are still plenty of issues to upset them – the legislation for same-sex marriage was published this week and returns to the Commons for second reading on 5 February – but the EU speech has had a powerful effect on the backbench.
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