Boris Johnson should want to face Rory Stewart

You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to look at recent media coverage of the Tory leadership race and conclude that Bois Johnson is a bit scared of Rory Stewart. Johnson’s fiends and surrogates have been training their fire on Stewart since the weekend, sometimes subtly and sometimes not.

This started when Matt Hancock dropped out, putting his backers in play. Then Stewart’s performance in Sunday’s Channel 4 debate convinced a number of his colleagues that he could survive the second ballot and thus qualify for a BBC debate tonight. A debate that Johnson has reluctantly agreed to be in.

Reluctantly because the entire Johnson strategy in the race is about avoiding engagements where he could be bloodied. As the overwhelming favourite, this is his to lose. Why take risks? People (and journalists) might not like it, but the Johnson approach is narrowly rational. If you have a winning lottery ticket, would you put it safely in your pocket and walk slowly to the prize office, or run headlong waving the ticket in the breeze?

But the premiership isn’t a financial fortune.