Injured party
Sir: Prue Leith’s short interlude as a Conservative party member and subsequent resignation underlines a feature of the current membership and the impact of resignations (Diary, 30 July). The Johnson era has seen the continuing decline in party membership brought about by the resignation of many members who were dissatisfied with the evidence of endemic dysfunctionality by the Prime Minister.
The consequence is that the membership is likely to be dominated by Johnson diehards. Liz Truss is certainly focusing on them. Those who did not renew their membership but are still likely to be Conservative supporters in a general election are now disenfranchised. Sir Charles Walker is right to call for an overhaul of this electoral process.
Paul McNamara
Pyrton, Oxfordshire
A return on Rishi
Sir: Your cover showed Rishi Sunak in a ‘mad dash’ (30 July) to persuade the 160,000 Conservative members to vote for him. I have a cunning plan which could help him. This week Oddschecker tells us that the odds offered on who will win the leadership vote are 5/1 for Sunak and 2/9 for Liz Truss. The bookmakers are so confident of a Truss victory that a bet on her of £9 would win just £2. If you put £9 on Sunak, you’d collect £45 if he succeeds.
Does anyone remember when Clement Freud stood to be an MP for the Isle of Ely in 1973? He was the outsider, but persuaded his local electorate to put bets on him to win at 33/1, and then to vote for him in droves. It worked! Freud boasted that Ladbrokes paid for his office staff for five parliamentary sessions. If only 80,001 Conservative members could be persuaded to have a punt on Sunak and then vote for him, that would really be one in the eye for the pollsters.
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