Spectator competition winners: ‘The hour is come: Now, Gods, stand up for Boris!’ (Shakespearean soliloquies from would-be prime ministers)

For the latest literary challenge you were invited to submit a Shakespearean soliloquy delivered by one of the contenders for the Tory leadership in which they consider their pitch for the top job. During the 2016 leadership contest, Shakespearean references were flying round. Alex Salmond likened Michael Gove to ‘Lord Macbeth’, and when Boris Johnson announced his withdrawal from the scrum he paraphrased the words of Brutus, saying that now was ‘a time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail on to fortune’. This time round, Boris has — so far, at least — been publicly reticent and most of you chose to plug that gap. There was a sprinkling of his fellow hopefuls (though no Hunts, Javids or Stewarts), all of whom are now out of the running. They get one final hearing below. A round of applause for the winners, who take £20 each.