Tory party members; choosing your next party leader and everyone's next PM, what, who, why?

why should members of the Conservative party pick the new PM

I think they are really choosing the leader of the Conservative Party who, when that party is in government, is automatically the PM.

It feels odd at the moment because it's not a general election where the Tory leader is already known, but the principle of Tory members choosing the Tory leader is perfectly sound, I think.

Isn't that the same in other Parties?

It’s still not the ideal way to choose our next PM.

The MPs narrow it down to the two they think are best so they do choose, if there is a big gap in numbers between those two the weaker one will step down.

Exactly, LauraNorderr, why should members of the Conservative party pick the new PM. I would be happier if it were Conservative MPs who made the final choice, at least they know the candidates. Ideally on the sacking/resignation/death of a sitting PM, a general election should be called, and while I’m here, proportional representation should be how we elect our government.

But aren’t the electorate told it’s the policies and manifestos we ought to be more interested in? (Mostly not true I suspect with a huge swathe of the electorate - it’ll come down to Keir Starmer -v- whoeverin the next GE).

LauraNorderr

Bossyrossy

Our system is so wrong, permitting a very small percentage of the voting public, who are not representative of the rest of us, to have the privilege of choosing our next prime minister.

With all due respect Bossyrossy our system allows for we the voters to elect an MP, the vast majority will vote for the MP that represents the party they favour.
The selection of the party leader is the job of the MPs and, in the case of the Conservatives, the final two are voted for by those of us who have paid our £25 membership fee.
The general population does not vote for a Prime Minister although I do believe that some charismatic leaders can influence the vote.

But the person the 200,000 Conservative party members vote for will automatically become Prime Minister.

I'm not disputing that it would be the same whichever party was in this position, but it is a fact that, due to the system, a very small number of people can and do choose Prime Ministers, relatively regularly.

I guess it demonstrates that voters' expectations have become more presidential than party focussed over the years. Thus you get people complaining that Starmer is boring. Clement Atlee was boring but he changed the face of Britain for the better.
I am never quite sure why people want a comedian as a PM. At least Sunak, Mordaunt and Tugendhat look as if they are capable of a decent day's work.

Bossyrossy

Our system is so wrong, permitting a very small percentage of the voting public, who are not representative of the rest of us, to have the privilege of choosing our next prime minister.

With all due respect Bossyrossy our system allows for we the voters to elect an MP, the vast majority will vote for the MP that represents the party they favour.
The selection of the party leader is the job of the MPs and, in the case of the Conservatives, the final two are voted for by those of us who have paid our £25 membership fee.
The general population does not vote for a Prime Minister although I do believe that some charismatic leaders can influence the vote.

Looking at the number of MP supporters so far, it looks like Sunak, followed by Mordaunt, followed by Tugendhat.

I'm just reading these with horror, good grasp of economy, Tories have spent huge sums on private contracts for PPE for example paid huge sums, often to people they know, awarding these to people who had no experience of provision of these things and ignoring the companies who are approved experienced contractors. Rishi Sunk wrote off large amounts of money given for covid but found to be fraudulent. What makes this good money management? Cos it seems the opposite to me

I suppose Bossyrossy it has to be this way, because if you think about it, any Labour or LibDem voter would just vote for a rubbish Tory leader who would be unpopular and easy to beat at the next GE!

Prentice totally agree that it’s okay to have different views, but I’m not sure what you are disagreeing with me about?

I am not convinced that Mogg and Dorries supporting Truss means the end of her candidacy. They are obviously doing it with the approval of Johnson, who may have enough support left to get her through to the next round.

Our system is so wrong, permitting a very small percentage of the voting public, who are not representative of the rest of us, to have the privilege of choosing our next prime minister.

I think it’s going to be down to Sunak and Mordaunt. The latter worked for George Bush so I assume if she was in America she would be a Republican.

Maybee70; the Michael Green pseudonym is just one of several. A constituent of Shapps/Green had challenged him about his pyramid selling, get rich quick scheme which he was pushing under the name of Michael Green. Shapps denied it, threated to sue for defamation, lied and lied and lied, then decided that it was true after all. What on earth motivates someone with this dubious history to stand as PM knowing this would all come out again?

Yes, Truss is finished now, judging by who is backing her. Good lord, it must be like the court of Henry V111 at the moment, all the promises, trade offs, future ministerial positions being waved about. Plotting in tea rooms........

Mogg and Dorries supporting Truss, kiss of death imo.

Zonne I do not agree with you.In my world this is quite ok to not agree.
It will be better to have a new PM that was not in the Cabinet I think, and hopefully this will happen.

“Grant Shapps, the Tory party chairman, had a second job as a “multimillion-dollar web marketer” under the pseudonym Michael Green for at least year after he first became an MP.

It is a suggestion that Shapps has repeatedly denied for three years, but the Guardian has discovered a recording from the summer of 2006 in which the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield boasts his products could make listeners a “ton of cash by Christmas..”
he was confronted by this on Ch4 news last night. Probably one reason why he has withdrawn. That and getting no support….

grumppa

Rees-Mogg and Dorries support Truss. Says it all.

Allegedly Dorries has said Truss is a better brexiteer than both of them. Truss voted remain…..

Rees-Mogg and Dorries support Truss. Says it all.

Shapps has pulled out and is now supporting Sunak.

Rees-Mogg and Dorries are supporting Truss

If I could vote for one candidate I really don't know on what basis I would cast my vote. When I see the faces of those standing for election all I see is their smirking and nodding heads as they sat during PMQ's and supported every lie coming out of our PM's mouth. Now they seem to have undergone a damascene conversion and espouse honesty and integrity. I honestly cannot trust them.

Never have I been or voted Tory. However, I recognise that their choice of a successor to BJ will affect all our lives for good(!) or ill. I am anxious that the majority of the prospective candidates are trying to outdo one another on the subject of tax reductions. I know that this has been a mantra on the back benches of late, but I wonder just how many of these 'low tax tories' have any grasp of the economics of taxation. Low tax, to my mind, would equate with low spending on services. A question they should be addressing is what services they consider ripe for cutting. But is this a question that their electorate, consisting of dyed in the wool tories, would ask?

Prentice

Zonne you declare that last sentence as though it is a fact.It is not.
We do not know what policies will come forth and having listened to Javid yesterday I think he will not be pulling up the ladder, and we cannot say what any of the others would do.
I guess that if posters are against all Conservative MP’s then that is their attitude set in stone.What a pity.
There are good MP’s in all political parties.I admire people who work hard for their constituencies from all the parties.
We need to keep hearts and minds open .

With respect, this is nonsense.

All 11 have committed to swingeing tax cuts which will directly benefit the better off, and will mean the need to reduce public services. This will impact the poor, which includes a disproportionate percentage of black and ethnic minority people, far more, reducing social mobility and effectively destroying the already farcical levelling up programme.

They have all also confirmed their commitment to the Rwanda policy, which means that those who benefitted from a regime which supported refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants, are making sure others like them cannot have the same opportunities. If that isn’t drawing up the ladder behind them, I don’t know what is.