Roll up, roll up: the leadership game is afoot. Every Tory with a smidgen of ambition is out on manoeuvres, flashing their ankles like a Victorian courtesan. All the aspirant ‘big beasts’ are getting in on the act: Jeremy Hunt is doing interviews, Liz Truss is hosting drinks at 5 Hertford Street while Penny Mordaunt is getting glowing profiles too. Most privately expect to lose to the heir apparent, saintly Rishi Sunak, but hope in so doing that they grab a decent Cabinet post as a consolation prize.
But if the sinking SS Boris takes down all its crew, there is a chance that fearful Tories could turn to someone untainted by the ancien régime. Someone decent, moderate and sensible, who represents the best in British conservatism. And who could be more decent, moderate and sensible than persistent Boris critic, Tom Tugendhat? As chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee he’s clashed repeatedly with Johnson over issues like Huawei and Afghanistan, memorably denouncing the Kabul fiasco on the floor of the House of Commons back in August.
Over the years, Tugendhat has made no secret of his ambitions for the top job, saying in a 2017 interview that ‘Of course!’ he wants to be Prime Minister, adding ‘I bought a ticket so why wouldn’t I want to win the lottery?’ Mr S has watched with interest his interventions over recent months, including
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