How the Tories can bin Boris

There are not very many good things to say about the Conservative party in Parliament these days.

Barely a month seems to pass without one of their number being exposed as some kind of pervert. Others among them seem far more interested in plotting their own ascents than in delivering sound public administration or working out what they actually believe in.

But one of the good things to say is that Sir Graham Brady seems like a sensible chap, running the all-powerful backbench 1922 Committee in a calm and mature fashion.

One supposes that Sir Graham must sometimes look at the most likely course of events around Boris Johnson’s party leadership and despair. For after the by-election defeats of last week it seems certain that new plots to oust the Prime Minister will emerge and that they will be strongly resisted.

The imminent elections for the 1922 executive already seem doomed to descend into a battle between rule-changers and rule-upholders as regards the stipulation that a PM cannot face two confidence votes in a single 12-month period.