Johnny Mercer is just saying what a lot of Tory MPs are thinking

Theresa May’s Hell Week 2.0 has aptly ended with a Conservative backbencher branding the current operation a ‘sh-t-show’. In an interview with The House magazine, Johnny Mercer has let rip – complaining that were he not a Conservative MP he wouldn’t vote Conservative. Mercer says the party’s values have changed since the Cameron days and if he weren’t an MP already ‘there would be absolutely no chance that I would try and be a Member of Parliament’ in the current climate. Mercer also rules out taking a job in the current administration – though it’s safe to presume that No 10 won’t be particularly minded to give one to him after this outburst.

So, is Mercer throwing his toys out of the pram – or does this intervention touch on a wider problem? The difficulty for No 10 is that they can’t dismiss Mercer as a hardcore Brexiteer angry at compromise – instead he is regarded within the party as being a moderate on most issues.