Sam Ashworth-Hayes Sam Ashworth-Hayes

The Tories have no good options

But a doomed party could be good for the country

As the Conservative party holds its third leadership contest in four years, Britain is not experiencing déjà vu; we’re just stuck on square one. The three frontrunners consist of the previous contest’s runners-up, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson, the man they previously deposed. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, the Conservative party lost its marbles a long way back.

These candidates have already been tested and found wanting. Penny Mordaunt is still a Labour politician in blue clothing, a living representative of your HR department’s moral values and political purpose while still willing to flip between trendy views and crude jokes on trans issues in order to cadge a few extra votes.

If you are finding yourself struggling with the debating skills and charisma of Liz Truss, politics may not be quite your thing

Rishi Sunak is still the candidate who walked into the contest expecting a coronation and disintegrated at the first serious opposition.

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