Rory Stewart is reassuringly bonkers

Brexit is both the cause of the Tory leadership contest – it was too much for Theresa May – and is the toxin that threatens to destroy the contest to replace her and her party. The reason is that even if the new prime minister were to take the UK out of the EU – which can by no means be taken for granted – there is unlikely to be a Brexit dividend for him or her or the Conservative Party. Because for most Tories or their potential supporters, Brexit is no more and no less than the duty that voters set the government in that 2016 referendum.

So far the defining characteristic of this government is its failure to fulfil that duty. If it ever were to actually do what it was instructed to do, gratitude from voters is less likely to be its reward than a mumbled “you took your time”.