James Forsyth James Forsyth

The question for Stephen Crabb, can you go toe to toe with Vladimir Putin?

The Tory leadership hopefuls all appeared before a packed out 1922 hustings tonight. First up was Michael Gove. His pitch was that he had the conviction, the experience and the vision to lead the party and the country. He argued that the Tories’ aim should be to help those on £24,000 a year.

Surprisingly, Gove wasn’t asked any questions about what had happened between him and Boris Johnson last week. However, he was asked twice about his former adviser Dominic Cummings. Gove said that Cummings would have no formal role in his Number 10.

Gove was typically fluent, answering nine questions in the fifteen minutes allotted to him. He was listened to respectfully, which was by no means certain given the events of Thursday morning. Some of Gove’s backers believe that things might be beginning to move in their favour.

Next up was Liam Fox.

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