Can Sajid Javid reboot his leadership campaign?

On Thursday, MPs will have their first chance to vote in the secret ballot for their pick for the next leader of the Conservative party. At the moment, the consensus in the Parliamentary party is that the most likely pair to make the final two are Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt – after Michael Gove’s campaign received a setback at the weekend when he admitted to previous drug use. But what about Sajid Javid?

The Home Secretary had been touted as a good bet ahead of the contest commencing. However, Javid has at times struggled to make an impression – and have his message cut through – in what has turned out to be a very crowded leadership race. This is a problem because while Javid has a good number of Tory MPs backing him, in the past few days a consensus is forming in the party that Hunt is the person to get behind to ensure a Cabinet candidate – rather than two full-on Brexiteers – make it to the final two.