Rebellious Tory MPs, expecting a trouncing in Thursday’s locals, are apparently mooting a ‘100 days to save Britain!’ emergency turnaround strategy. A new leader, a payrise for doctors, defence spending up to 3 per cent. Having four prime ministers in one parliamentary term would be good for future pub quizzes, but who is apparently choice for that number four slot? Penny Mordaunt. To what problem is she the solution?
Her worst quality is that she will follow whatever is fashionable or socially expedient, not her own judgement.
Mordaunt is a model example of style over substance. And what style! Because she looks just right – the mane, the steely glare, the confident manner, the military uprightness. There is something of a carved ship’s figurehead about her, an aurora of Thatcher (though Mordaunt is a much more natural public speaker) and, through her, a link to a Jungian archetype – Juno, Boadicea, Elizabeth Taylor.
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