Well, it definitely won't be Suella Braverman and the rebirth of the Conservative Party

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, jawillwill said:

Every time I see Nadine's Twitter accout I am in disbelief that it's not a spoof. Proper mad.

 

Have you seen the way she looks at him? All doey eyed and drooling. There’s something going on there.

[tdmickey3]

Boris to return 🤮.... could the party of  lying Tory incompetents get any worse??

If they had any decency and morals (as if) they would call a GE but we know the have so much self interest in saving there own skins instead of doing right by the UK we know it wont happen.

 

[jawillwill]

Stella Braverman apparently making a statement later this morning. Maybe it will be her and the rebirth of the Conservative Party after all....

[badgerx16]

7 minutes ago, jawillwill said:

Stella Braverman apparently making a statement later this morning. Maybe it will be her and the rebirth of the Conservative Party after all....

What as, the British Union of Fascists ?

[tajjuk]

14 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

Plenty of Tory MPs saying they will resign if he gets back into #10.

I think at least one if not two have confirmed they will not just quit the Tory party they'll go to Labour. Multiple leading Tories have said he shouldn't come back.

He'll massively divide the party, wasn't it something like 60 ministers and staff resigned in protest from his government because of his awful behaviour.

There are also other issues piling up for the Tories that might trigger elections, there are 8 I think MPs Boris has elevated to the Lords and technically you can't be an MP and in the House of Lords so those 8 should go to a by-election (with the Tories likely losing all 8).  

Hilariously Truss could actually do the same and screw the party over, she could send some of her loyal followers to the House of Lords as well, triggering more by-elections.

Plus then if the new Leader is divisive, then you could trigger a host of resignations and possibly defections. 

The majority they sit with could be quickly eroded and any new leader will not be able to get anything done if they have rebels voting against the government. The whole farce of the forced vote on fracking is likely to have led to more Tory MPs being pissed off and more likely to ignore the whip. Plus a lot of them are standing down next election so again might not give a shit if they lose the whip and will just sit there as independents until the next election.

There are just too many fighting factions in the tory party, and the various factions of MPs don't align with the members so the chance of them all agreeing on someone is next to none. There is also no one really that is very electable or who goes down with the public. 

We sadly might have to wait out many more months if not a year or so of this shambles of a Conservative party but I think we are seeing the death of it right now, I don't think the Conservative party in the format we have known for the last 50+ years is ever coming back from this. 

If Labour do get in and we finally get electoral reform with PR, we might actual see several right wing parties appear. 

[edprice1984]

My radical plan would be:

The monarch could be replaced by a 'President' elected from said Upper House as a Constitutional figure head and only allowed to serve a single term of 10 years. 

Maintain the Constitutional convention approach. A written Constitution sounds like a good idea, but as you see in the US, it can store up trouble based on how words, meanings etc are reinterpreted.

Personally the biggest change I would make is to write into law, the need to call a General Election whenever a PM is removed from office. I know that we don't technically vote for a PM, but this is for the most part how people make their decisions. 

I am not sold on PR as an alternative to FPTP. I can see positives and negatives on both sides. It could be argued that if we had PR, the right of the Conservative Party would have split out years' ago and Brexit wouldn't have happened. Whereas Cameron had to consider the Eurosceptic ERG wing when putting out his manifesto in 2015 to maintain party cohesion and any chance of winning the election. 

In an ideal world you get more collaboration and bi-partisan work with PR, but you do allow some very nasty and questionable people (even worse than some current MPs) to be in positions of power and influence. The BNP would have had seats in Parliament under PR for example. 

British Politics is actually remarkably stable when it comes to Political parties, who have decades or centuries of history behind them. Compare this to most other Western nations and we are the anomaly (the US probably the most notable other exception).

If Braverman stands then she will only take votes away from Boris. 
 

[badgerx16]

14 minutes ago, edprice1984 said:

My radical plan would be:

The monarch could be replaced by a 'President' elected from said Upper House as a Constitutional figure head and only allowed to serve a single term of 10 years. 

Maintain the Constitutional convention approach. A written Constitution sounds like a good idea, but as you see in the US, it can store up trouble based on how words, meanings etc are reinterpreted.

Personally the biggest change I would make is to write into law, the need to call a General Election whenever a PM is removed from office. I know that we don't technically vote for a PM, but this is for the most part how people make their decisions. 

I am not sold on PR as an alternative to FPTP. I can see positives and negatives on both sides. It could be argued that if we had PR, the right of the Conservative Party would have split out years' ago and Brexit wouldn't have happened. Whereas Cameron had to consider the Eurosceptic ERG wing when putting out his manifesto in 2015 to maintain party cohesion and any chance of winning the election. 

In an ideal world you get more collaboration and bi-partisan work with PR, but you do allow some very nasty and questionable people (even worse than some current MPs) to be in positions of power and influence. The BNP would have had seats in Parliament under PR for example. 

British Politics is actually remarkably stable when it comes to Political parties, who have decades or centuries of history behind them. Compare this to most other Western nations and we are the anomaly (the US probably the most notable other exception).

If Braverman stands then she will only take votes away from Boris. 
 

With FPTP you get the continuing BS from whichever side wins a GE, "the People gave us a mandate". When was the last UK Government that won a majority of the votes cast, let alone a majority of the Electorate ? 1935. With all subsequent elections more voted for somebody else than for the Party that gained power.

The current shower got a big majority with 43.6% of the vote, Blair's landslide 179 seat majority in 1997 got less, 43.2%.

There is an extreme example mathematical exercise where you can work out that a party can win 49% of the votes cast yet end up with zero seats in the Commons.

Edited 21 October, 2022 by badgerx16

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, edprice1984 said:

My radical plan would be:

The monarch could be replaced by a 'President' elected from said Upper House as a Constitutional figure head and only allowed to serve a single term of 10 years. 

Maintain the Constitutional convention approach. A written Constitution sounds like a good idea, but as you see in the US, it can store up trouble based on how words, meanings etc are reinterpreted.

Personally the biggest change I would make is to write into law, the need to call a General Election whenever a PM is removed from office. I know that we don't technically vote for a PM, but this is for the most part how people make their decisions. 

I am not sold on PR as an alternative to FPTP. I can see positives and negatives on both sides. It could be argued that if we had PR, the right of the Conservative Party would have split out years' ago and Brexit wouldn't have happened. Whereas Cameron had to consider the Eurosceptic ERG wing when putting out his manifesto in 2015 to maintain party cohesion and any chance of winning the election. 

In an ideal world you get more collaboration and bi-partisan work with PR, but you do allow some very nasty and questionable people (even worse than some current MPs) to be in positions of power and influence. The BNP would have had seats in Parliament under PR for example. 

British Politics is actually remarkably stable when it comes to Political parties, who have decades or centuries of history behind them. Compare this to most other Western nations and we are the anomaly (the US probably the most notable other exception).

If Braverman stands then she will only take votes away from Boris. 
 

Good idea but the problem with that is that any government could change the law at any time.

[Turkish]

9 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Have you seen the way she looks at him? All doey eyed and drooling. There’s something going on there.

I thought that, she’s definitely had a bit of Boris love glue

[buctootim]

This is an astounding opinon piece considering it is on Conservative Home and written by their editor. 

 

Totentanz October 21, 2022   Paul Goodman

Johnson Derangement Syndrome consumes his enemies, who can see no good in him, and his friends, who can see no bad, or none that isn’t outweighed by his jokes, animal spirits and zest for life.

So it may be savvier to take a cool view – as we read that he is ready to return from a beach holiday, itself taken during Parliamentary termtime, so that the Conservative Party can return him to the premiership from which Tory MPs ejected him, scarcely more than three months ago.

I swore a mighty oath some 25 years ago, when working as Comment Editor at the Daily Telegraph, that I would never succumb to JDS – no matter how many articles Johnson delivered late at the witching hour.  So let me keep my promise by setting out, first, the potential advantages of his return.

As I write, the electoral wizard that is Elizabeth Truss has reduced the Conservatives to 21 points in Politicos Poll of Polls, with Labour currently on 53 per cent.  Punch those figures into Electoral Calculus, give the Liberal Democrats 20 per cent of the vote for fun, and you have Labour on a 392 majority and the Conservatives on 11 seats.

No, I don’t believe that even Truss would have delivered a Canadian-type wipeout for the Tories, but they could be looking at opposition for a generation.  It is reasonable to believe that Johnson could quickly get the Tory vote back to where he took it – the low 30s.  That would suggest a mere 1997-type wipeout.

He might be able to push it higher.  For Johnson is dazzling at dealing with a crisis or rather, strictly speaking, delivering a simple response to a complex event: for Brexit, there is a deal; for Covid, a vaccine; for Ukraine, guns for the Ukrainians and butter for Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The complex event now dominating the political landscape is economic turbulence. And the nearest thing to a simple response will be the forthcoming Budget.  Ask Johnson what he’d like in any financial statement with which he will be associated, and you will get a cakeist answer: tax cuts, spending increases, bridges, statues (of himself).

Nonetheless, even Johnson’s ozymandian powers are incapable of making water run uphill, or of cutting tax when taxes must rise, of raising spending when it must be cut.  The first duty of a new Johnson Chancellor would be to deliver the most unboosterish British Budget ever.

Admittedly, there would be a rough justice in a new Johnson premiership having to face up to the consequences of the last one.  Do I hear you complain about taxes reaching a record high, and point a finger at the Chancellor on duty?  But what about the Prime Minister who appointed the Chancellor in the first place?

It would be grimly appropriate were Johnson to take responsibility for the problems that he left Truss to deal with.  To be fair to him, he didn’t want to do so: he is the last man to abandon his grip on power.  And to be doubly fair, he had and has still a kind of mandate, having led the Conservatives to victory in 2019 with their biggest majority for over 30 years.

But only a kind, because of the way that Parliamentary government works.  We don’t elect a president.  Indeed, we don’t put in a Prime Minister.  We elect MPs from constituencies, usually on a party basis.  The party that can form a majority in the Commons then decides the basis on which it will govern.

Usually, that demands supporting the party leader.  But occasionally – perhaps I should say frequently, given the events of the last few year – his party’s MPs junk him, as they have a right to do.  And the bald fact is that enough Tory MPs decided, only a few weeks ago, that Johnson had to go as to make his position impossible.

The reason wasn’t Christopher Pincher doing whatever he did in the Carlton Club; or Downing Street wallpaper; or the Covid parties in Downing Street – or even the Prime Minister becoming the first in history found to have committed a criminal act in office.

“What will worry them most is a growing view that Number Ten can’t stick to anything and doesn’t tell the truth – not so much to voters (which I’m afraid they will take more or less for granted), but to them, whether the matter to hand is Downing Street wallpaper, parties, Afghan dogs, Paterson, “buyer’s remorse” or the football Superleague.”

That sentence is from an article I wrote for this site last December, called “A vote of confidence in Johnson has suddenly become more likely than not”.  That speculation turned out to be on the money, and this explanation may throw light on what happens next.

It isn’t clear as I write whether or not Johnson really intends to stand in the forthcoming leadership election.  Perhaps he is undertaking the equivalent of writing his two pre-Brexit referendum campaign articles, one for, one against – weighing up the options. But either way, he is doing what he always does: seizing the limelight.  And if he stands after all, he will probably win.

At which point, Conservative poll ratings perhaps rise to the low 30s.  But what then?  What would the other 70 per cent make of it?  First, Johnson made the Tories a comedy.  Then Truss turned them into a laughing stock.  A Johnson return would risk emptying the theatre altogether, as most of the public run screaming for the exits.

To first force out Johnson, replace him with someone worse and then bring him back again, most voters would respond: “kindly leave the stage”.  Conservative members may not grasp the extent to which their party is becoming a joke – here and abroad.  The very word “conservative” risks becoming unmentionable in polite society (indeed, in any kind of society at all).

A certain type of enthusiast for Red Wall conservatism looks back to the winter of 2019, and sees Johnson being carried shoulder-high in triumph through Burnley, Leigh and Hartlepool.  But that happy world is dead – killed by the cost of living crisis.  Look at how Johnson’s ratings square off against Keir Starmer’s, or ponder James Johnson’s wordcloud above.

The thought occurs that maybe the Conservative Party no longer cares.  Perhaps the sum of its ambition is to become the provisional wing of the right-wing entertainment industry: happy to preach to a diminishing band of true believers, and good for a newpaper column or fringe TV turn, while Keir Starmer gets on with the tiresome business of actually running the country.

If so, it can look forward to a Prime Minister staffing his government with fifth raters, since the bulk of the 66 Ministers who resigned in the summer will refuse to serve.  If a by-election forced by a Commons suspension doesn’t get him first.  If the Tory benches don’t first vote down the report into his conduct that would trigger it, thus speeding the spiral of decline.

The Germans have a word for it: Totentanz – a dance of death.  Conservative MPs, peers, donors, hacks and activists caper owards an open grave, with Death himself – sorry, Johnson – leading the procession.  The dance possesses them; it has a momentum of its own; they are powerless to stop.

“The details of this manoeuvre are exceedingly complicated, but the essence is simple,” writes Paul Johnson. “On the one side shifting and divided aims, and an inability to focus on the real essentials of power; on the other, an unwavering aim and a firm grasp of realities.”

[rallyboy]

This must be important if Johnson has actually cut short one of his many holidays, next he'll be trying to find his own constituency and doing an impression of an MP.

I hope no one mentions that he was finally dragged out of no.10 for trying to protect a sex offender - on the back of partying during funerals as the Queen sat alone in the chapel.

That would make him sound like a total arsehole who turned the UK into an international joke, fucked literally any ugly thing that moved, and lined his own grubby pockets with Russian cash.

And we wouldn't want him to be remembered like that.

[Singapore Saint]

On 21/10/2022 at 05:25, Tamesaint said:

have you seen Kemi Badenoch's arse ? You could land a plane on it.😀

Suella Braverman reminds me of Jar Jar Binks but I do like her 🙂  

[Wade Garrett]

Bizarre the way Johnson supporters go on about his election win as if it was like Saints winning the Premier League.

He was up against Jeremy Corbyn.  My dog could have won that election.

 

[Lighthouse]

I’m pretty sure all the Johnson hype is being done deliberately to make Sunak seem like the sensible option when he is eventually appointed.

[buctootim]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

I’m pretty sure all the Johnson hype is being done deliberately to make Sunak seem like the sensible option when he is eventually appointed.

I doubt it. I think its the Johnson fanboys - mostly third rate MPs who prioritise image over substance and the more serious others who think more strategiacally about the future of the party and country. I reckon the fanboys group is smaller than it was and the others group are more willing to coalesce around a single candidate. Whether that will be enough to push Sunakl through the membership remains to be seen though. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Watching the deranged meltdown of Lefties and the wokeriti when Big Dog wanders back into number 10 would be delicious, but unfortunately it’s not the time for a high spending Tory. realism not cakeism is the order of the day as the country is in a financial straight jacket. Regardless of previous indiscretions he’s not the man for this crises. The best thing for the Tory party is for him to go through to the members and then get beat, anything else will continue to poison the well. Sunak is the one the markets will want, and that’s probably what they’ll get. 

[Sheaf Saint]

23 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The best thing for the Tory party is for him to go through to the members and then get beat, anything else will continue to poison the well. Sunak is the one the markets will want, and that’s probably what they’ll get. 

Do you honestly trust the membership to make the right choice after last time? It was plainly obvious to anybody with even a modicum of intelligence that Sunak was by far the better option, but they still voted in Thick Lizzy. If he couldn't beat her then what chance does he have with the blue-rinsers against Johnson? 

They will never admit to it publicly, of course, but there are just too many of them who could never bring them themselves to vote for a man with his ethnic background. If it comes down to them as the final two, Johnson will breeze it. 

[egg]

9 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Do you honestly trust the membership to make the right choice after last time? It was plainly obvious to anybody with even a modicum of intelligence that Sunak was by far the better option, but they still voted in Thick Lizzy. If he couldn't beat her then what chance does he have with the blue-rinsers against Johnson? 

They will never admit to it publicly, of course, but there are just too many of them who could never bring them themselves to vote for a man with his ethnic background. If it comes down to them as the final two, Johnson will breeze it. 

Exactly this. Sunak was and will always be the wrong colour for the Tory faithful. That, and their selfish yearning to pay less tax, meant he never stood and never will stand a chance. 

[Weston Super Saint]

21 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Do you honestly trust the membership to make the right choice after last time? It was plainly obvious to anybody with even a modicum of intelligence that Sunak was by far the better option, but they still voted in Thick Lizzy. If he couldn't beat her then what chance does he have with the blue-rinsers against Johnson? 

They will never admit to it publicly, of course, but there are just too many of them who could never bring them themselves to vote for a man with his ethnic background. If it comes down to them as the final two, Johnson will breeze it. 

The difference this time is it is an online vote.  That should stump 80% of them...

[whelk]

Imagine being a sad twat that is influenced by Braverman’s words. 

[badgerx16]

Sunak wins with the MPs; Boris wins with the membership; Commons Standards &  Privileges Committee finds him in contempt and suspends him triggering a by-election; Boris loses his seat.

Rishi takes over.

[LGTL]

Am I missing something from the bookies? How is Sunak favourite? Absolutely zero chance Tory members will ever make him Prime Minister. So it comes down to Johnson or a rigged online vote. 

[ChrisPY]

1 minute ago, LGTL said:

Am I missing something from the bookies? How is Sunak favourite? Absolutely zero chance Tory members will ever make him Prime Minister. So it comes down to Johnson or a rigged online vote. 

Chance he’s the only one with the backing of over 100 MPs, the members might not have a choice.

[egg]

3 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Sunak wins with the MPs; Boris wins with the membership; Commons Standards &  Privileges Committee finds him in contempt and suspends him triggering a by-election; Boris loses his seat.

Rishi takes over.

Lovely idea but wouldn't it go back to another leadership contest, and potentially the Sunak disliking Tory faithful?

[LGTL]

2 minutes ago, ChrisPY said:

Chance he’s the only one with the backing of over 100 MPs, the members might not have a choice.

Johnson already has over 100 by all accounts. Looking like it comes down to those two if Johnson still fancies it, and I can’t imagine his ego could give this opportunity a miss.

Edited 22 October, 2022 by LGTL

[badgerx16]

10 minutes ago, egg said:

Lovely idea but wouldn't it go back to another leadership contest, and potentially the Sunak disliking Tory faithful?

Actually, I think that before Rishi took over in that situation, it would finally trigger a GE. Sooner or later even the Tory media will have had enough of this Totentanz Oozelum bird circus.

Edited 22 October, 2022 by badgerx16

[whelk]

17 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Johnson already has over 100 by all accounts. Looking like it comes down to those two if Johnson still fancies it, and I can’t imagine his ego could give this opportunity a miss.

Remember he and his mob lie constantly 

[Highfield Saint]

On 21/10/2022 at 08:37, jawillwill said:

Every time I see Nadine's Twitter accout I am in disbelief that it's not a spoof. Proper mad.

 

Surely she can’t have it both ways. If it’s party people voted for then the MP commanding the majority in the commons is PM and this doesn’t need a Tory membership vote 

If the vote was for the leader then any change should be put to the electorate 

[Tamesaint]

1 minute ago, Highfield Saint said:

Surely she can’t have it both ways. If it’s party people voted for then the MP commanding the majority in the commons is PM and this doesn’t need a Tory membership vote 

If the vote was for the leader then any change should be put to the electorate 

She would take it both ways from Johnson.

[sadoldgit]

I was going to add this to the broken country thread but as yet another of my threads has been shut down, here it is, just for you Duckie. NHS safe in Tory hands?

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/coffeys-dwp-watered-down-key-parts-of-plan-to-prevent-suicides/

[Weston Super Saint]

15 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

I was going to add this to the broken country thread but as yet another of my threads has been shut down, here it is, just for you Duckie. NHS safe in Tory hands?

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/coffeys-dwp-watered-down-key-parts-of-plan-to-prevent-suicides/

And you still don't get the hint 

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

Sunak wins with the MPs; Boris wins with the membership; Commons Standards &  Privileges Committee finds him in contempt and suspends him triggering a by-election; Boris loses his seat.

Rishi takes over.

And Boris gets to claim a second £115k per year for being PM twice??

[Lord Duckhunter]

2 hours ago, egg said:

Exactly this. Sunak was and will always be the wrong colour for the Tory faithful. 

Complete and utter pony. They’d have voted Kemi & Braverman over Truss, they’d have voted Priti over her as well. It was nothing to do with his colour and everything to do with the perception he stabbed Boris. I know he’s the new Rory, every non Tory voters favourite Tory, but his colour had fuck all to do with it. 
 

 

[badgerx16]

10 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

And Boris gets to claim a second £115k per year for being PM twice??

He already is a corrupt cunt, so why not ?

[whelk]

6 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Complete and utter pony. They’d have voted Kemi & Braverman over Truss, they’d have voted Priti over her as well. It was nothing to do with his colour and everything to do with the perception he stabbed Boris. I know he’s the new Rory, every non Tory voters favourite Tory, but his colour had fuck all to do with it. 
 

 

Clueless twat

[whelk]

31 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

I was going to add this to the broken country thread but as yet another of my threads has been shut down, here it is, just for you Duckie. NHS safe in Tory hands?

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/coffeys-dwp-watered-down-key-parts-of-plan-to-prevent-suicides/

Start an NHS thread that woudl be valid.

Coffey doesn’t look like she takes on board many of the public health messages although she has a doctorate in chemistry I heard. Liz’s best mate so don’t know if she will keep the health job but they are running out of anyone with talent. They seem very silent on mental health.
 

[Turkish]

[whelk]

Bit quiet about Rainbow laces week Turkish?

[The Kraken]

This Tory party member seems like he *might* have factored in Sunak’s skin colour when thinking about who to vote for.

 

[whelk]

Daily Mail top rated comments

 

[Tamesaint]

38 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Complete and utter pony. They’d have voted Kemi & Braverman over Truss, they’d have voted Priti over her as well. It was nothing to do with his colour and everything to do with the perception he stabbed Boris. I know he’s the new Rory, every non Tory voters favourite Tory, but his colour had fuck all to do with it. 
 

 

Complete deluded bollocks.

[badgerx16]

23 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

Complete deluded bollocks.

Which is harsher, bollocks or pony ?

[egg]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Complete and utter pony. They’d have voted Kemi & Braverman over Truss, they’d have voted Priti over her as well. It was nothing to do with his colour and everything to do with the perception he stabbed Boris. I know he’s the new Rory, every non Tory voters favourite Tory, but his colour had fuck all to do with it. 
 

 

We'll agree to differ. I'm in little doubt that race was a factor. 

[farawaysaint]

I am beyond angry, he is actually going to win and I will have to listen to some disgusting speech about how he has learned his lesson and how wonderful he is. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

How the fuck can the government be decided by a few hundred fuckwits that have their own personal interests ahead of the country?

And how can it be the same ten/twenty people that have been part of this shitshow from the start that have such a hold over the others?

Is there nothing in the laws that can trigger a general election? 
The Tories should be nowhere near the top ever again, and majority of those 10/20 near the top need to be investigated fully.

[FarehamSaintJames]

I’m so angry that these people appear to be above the law.

It’s going to be the same shitshow, it’s coming.

[Turkish]

33 minutes ago, farawaysaint said:

I am beyond angry, he is actually going to win and I will have to listen to some disgusting speech about how he has learned his lesson and how wonderful he is. 

He won’t say he’s learnt his lesson, he’s too arrogant for that. It’ll be a Boris to the rescue type speech with Mad Nad and co applauding along. 

[CB Fry]

Boris has bailed out/bottled out/bounced out of leadership contests before. He will find a way to wriggle out of this one.

[Lighthouse]

42 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

How the fuck can the government be decided by a few hundred fuckwits that have their own personal interests ahead of the country?

And how can it be the same ten/twenty people that have been part of this shitshow from the start that have such a hold over the others?

Is there nothing in the laws that can trigger a general election? 
The Tories should be nowhere near the top ever again, and majority of those 10/20 near the top need to be investigated fully.

You vote for an MP to be elected to parliament. If the circumstances around that change, then they have a by-election. You don’t vote for a prime minister, so legally speaking it’s up to the Tories to appoint whoever they like, as often as they like. Obviously that doesn’t go down well with voters, but legally I don’t think there’s anything which would trigger an election.

[Tamesaint]

37 minutes ago, farawaysaint said:

I am beyond angry, he is actually going to win and I will have to listen to some disgusting speech about how he has learned his lesson and how wonderful he is. 

Don't despair. This vote won't go to the members. Johnson will not win and Sunak will be PM by close of play Monday.

There are 357 Tory MPs. At the moment there are 123 declared Sunak supporters, 54 for Johnson and 24 for Mordaunt. The Sunak supporters have been coming in thick and fast during the day and these include people like Badenoch and Frost (admittedly not an MP) who were expected to back Johnson. The Rishi bandwagon is rolling. The Mail, Times and Telegraph are backing him. Those Tory MPs who haven't declared so far will want to be on the winning side.  I don't think that Johnson will get 100 backers. 

 I know that it is claimed that he has 100 supporters already but (exclusive news here) there have been occasions in the past when Johnson has been known to tell a little fib!! His ego will not allow him to be seen as a loser so when he sees how the land is lying it would not surprise me if Johnson doesn't even declare a leadership bid at all.

 

Mind you .... I am not prepared to put any money on this prediction. ☺️