The trouble with buffets is that if you time it wrong, you’re left with a few bits of tired salad and dubious croutons or, if it’s breakfast a slimy egg that’s been sitting in fat since midnight and some encrusted beans. Rather like what the four candidates who want to be the next leader of the Conservative party seem to be offering. Gone is the extravagant confection that was Boris Johnson, the imploding lettuce of Liz Truss and the water feature personified by Rishi Sunak. What we got was not just stale but potentially dangerous. To be the leader of His Majesty’s Opposition is an important and vital role in our democracy. A good and effective opposition will hold the government to account, scrutinise and question legislation, be privy to matters of security and national importance. Used properly, that responsibility can help build a party that the electorate might believe is fit to govern when the next opportunity comes.
Can the Tory party be trusted with that responsibility, or will they just carry on fighting amongst themselves while desperately trying to outflank Reform?
Robert Jenrick who’s one of the front runners got himself in a terrible pickle over claims that British special forces were “killing rather than capturing” terrorists because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants. His bizarre claims were roundly criticised by many military experts and Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, who said the claims were “one of the most astonishing videos I have ever seen posted by a Conservative MP, let alone a candidate for the leadership”.
Sticking with the military theme, former solider Tom Tugenhadt said serving his country made him a leader, not a manager like his opponents. He was knocked out of the leadership race last time and then supported Liz Truss which fortunately wasn’t a military exercise but did turn out to be a suicide mission.
The Tories have a penchant for strong, feisty woman and they don’t talk much tougher than Kemi Badenoch who wants to jail civil servants and thinks maternity pay is too generous. No idea where she’s been when everyone else has been talking about overcrowded prisons or the problems of recruitment and retention of good, qualified women in health, education and other sectors.
And then there’s James Cleverly, unkindly dubbed Jim Dimly by some. Exciting he ain’t but he did at least say sorry for the failings of his party and urged it to be more ‘normal’. Cleverly got the warmest reception in the conference hall but now it’s up to the 121 Tory MPs to whittle the contest down to two and then the members to make the final decision. That’s barely 0.3% of the adult British population. The same people who helped to give us Brexit, Johnson and Truss.
What could possibly go wrong?
