Tory Grand National or demolition derby?

A cabinet minister yesterday observed to me that they would scream if they heard another person suggest the Tory leadership race was like the Grand National. Rather defensively, given it is one of my favourite analogies, I asked what they thought would work better. A little while later, they messaged back: demolition derby; a reference to the sport where cars drive into each other until only one is left standing.

Today this analogy seems rather apt. The Sundays are full of quite extraordinary accusations of dirty tricks, which, if they were included in a TV drama would be thought of as OTT. The Telegraph has published an anti-Rishi Sunak briefing note that is being circulated.

The danger for the Tories is that if they spend seven weeks knocking seven bells out of each other, the only winner of this contest will be Keir Starmer. To extend the demolition derby metaphor, a car that has been driven into and smashed up for seven weeks is hardly in a great position to win a race.