54 Letters

Apparently a new leader is being discussed. Jeremy Hunt and Penny Mordant are in the running. I would be happy with either of them. I might even be tempted to vote Tory when the time comes. Don’t care for Liz Truss and not completely sure about Rishi Sunak but to be honest he would be far better than Johnson. What I can’t stand are the statements that there is no one else. Unbelievable because if Johnson is all they can offer then the Tories are finished.

Let’s not forget that Hunt was health secretary when Operation Cygnus took place which concluded that we were I’ll prepared to face a potential pandemic and he did nothing. I admit that, unlike most of the people in government he looks and talks like a sensible human being but he really is the best of a bad bunch.

Jeremy Hunt was also terribly keen on privatising the NHS.

The main reason for keeping him in power is that there's no one else! Seriously, is this really the best that the Tories can come up with? Not that there's much going on in the world at the moment. One thing I am sure if is that Johnson will never leave voluntarily. Personally I'm looking forward to a Labour government.

Like many on here, I am swaying on what I want to happen to Johnson, or more accurately, when. I can see the attraction of allowing him to ramble on for the next two years and make such a mess of things that he and his cohort taint the party so badly that they are in the political wilderness for years. But, what he could do in the next two years terrifies me, the damage could take years to remedy and many, many people would suffer. As for his replacement; Hunt is smart, articulate, but was in charge of health when operation Cygnet was stuffed into the 'too hard' file, and is very pro privatising the NHS. In my opinion, not one of the current cabinet should be considered suitable for PM as they are enablers and as guilty, if not more so, as Johnson.

A Tory HQ person on Newsnight last night was convinced that 54 letters have gone in and said Graham Brady wants to wait till next week after the Jubilee celebrations to announce it.

However don't get too excited because the 3 panellists (Tory, Lib Dem and ex Tory) predicted he would win a confidence vote. They pointed out that Theresa May still had to go 6 months after winning a confidence vote because of unpopularity with her Brexit deal and she had Cabinet Ministers resigning. Also, that the 1922 Committee can change its rules about the frequency of confidence votes if they wish to.

I don't care if BoJo stays on and has a humiliating defeat in the next General Election but I think something else will happen to cause his downfall.

Sunak has lost public support what with his wife's non dom debacle and Liz Truss is IMHO full of hot air as well as thinking she's hot. I can't take her seriously. I don't know much about Penny Mordaunt and Jeremy Hunt promised to recruit more GPs but the numbers actually went down so he can't be trusted to do what he promises.

I just hope the Slithy Tove/Gove stays out of it. He is the least trustworthy of all.

Well there clearly is someone else, who has already done the job isn’t there. May would be a much better option than Johnson. I’m not a fan of hers, but I do think she cares, and she’s not flaky.

I agree that she cares but her great faults were her inability to delegate and her total reliance on inept advisers to the exclusion of advice from her Cabinet. Perhaps she has learned a lesson about the latter, but someone who is unable to delegate doesn’t change.

Ben Wallace and Tom Tugendhat are, apparently, popular choices with the Tory faithful.

I know it’s in the Guardian but they say that younger MP’s are scared to send in letters of no confidence because of reprisals and that they’re worried that if they email it the email will be leaked.

MayBee70

I know it’s in the Guardian but they say that younger MP’s are scared to send in letters of no confidence because of reprisals and that they’re worried that if they email it the email will be leaked.

Apparently other MPs have offered to do it for them. Trouble is no one trusts anyone.

What a shower.

What a toxic environment to work in. I’m convinced the 2019 MP I sometimes email will be wanting to send a letter in. I know he’s a Conservative but I worry about him. It’s no place for someone with any integrity. I can’t quite believe what’s happening. Dare I mention that now that people have realised that Johnson is an out and out liar he lied about brexit as well. Or was he honest and upright when campaigning for leave….

He won't go unless someone steps up who can replace him successfully. Jeremy Hunt has such an unfortunate name and invites comedy, Rishi is now just a rich boy, May has failed once, will Gove be resurrected? They all fail the popularity test. As for newer MPs who's heard of most of them?

What about Raab?

Glorianny

He won't go unless someone steps up who can replace him successfully. Jeremy Hunt has such an unfortunate name and invites comedy, Rishi is now just a rich boy, May has failed once, will Gove be resurrected? They all fail the popularity test. As for newer MPs who's heard of most of them?

Do you mean popular with the public, or within the party Glorianny, as they seem to be two completely different things?

25Avalon - Heaven save us from Raab! I have it on good authority from someone who had to deal with him and brief him in one of his previous roles that he's really dim. he had to have simple stuff explained over and over again.

I remember when BoJo was in hospital Raab looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights and was petrified of being called on to take over for any length of time. Luckily for us all he didn't have to.

Remember - he and his Cabinet colleagues were only chosen because of their incompetence and to make BoJo look good. The way different ones are wheeled out every day (Nadine D today) to defend BoJo is pathetic. They'd lose their jobs if BoJo went so of course they are going to defend him to the hilt.

It's an insult to most people's intelligence if they imagine that voters can't see through that.

Perhaps Penny Mordaunt stands a good chance as I don't think she's put her foot in yet.

Maybe you should check Raab’s educational achievements and former career before calling him ‘dim’.

Highest level of incompetence…..?

I don’t think it’s helpful or accurate to call ministers dim (well maybe Nadine Dorries who shows regular evidence of being so). People say it of Johnson when he is anything but. Raab has good academic and professional qualifications. It’s his beliefs which worry me. No need to quote chapter and verse. His Wiki profile explains it far better than I could.

Most recently, he’s been exposed and heavily criticised by the Foreign Affairs Committee for his failed leadership and mishandling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

I don’t think he is popular in the party. He finished sixth in the 2019 leadership contest and went on to support Johnson’s bid which will make him unpopular in some circles in this current leadership crisis.

He popularity in his own constituency shows serious decline. In the 2015 general election, he retained his Esher and Walton seat with a majority of 28,000 votes. In the 2017 general election, his majority was reduced to 23,000. In the 2019 general election his majority was only 2,743. That’s extraordinary for one of the most expensive places to live outside of London with some areas dubbed Britain’s Beverley Hills. Average property prices have been estimated in excess of £1m. If the LibDems put up another strong candidate in the next GE, I could see him losing his seat.

I've just thought NOT Priti Patel. I'd rather stick with Johnston!!!!

Glorianny

I've just thought NOT Priti Patel. I'd rather stick with Johnston!!!!

Oh dear God in Heaven!?
You’re quite right. What a blooming shower

Must share this. We all know that Johnson has tried to have people in his cabinet with less competence and ability than he had, and of course has largely succeeded.

Someone commented.

“ imagine Nadine Dorries became prime minister, what would her government even look like”

???

Germanshepherdsmum

Maybe you should check Raab’s educational achievements and former career before calling him ‘dim’.

I wouldn't call him "dim", but I don't see anything very special in his educational achievements or career.

The Conservative party are finished. The could organise a p... up in a brewery... Oops sorry of course they could!

As above. I actually said they couldn't! Typo