Conservative Party of the UK Leadership Election, 2022

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

One small wrinkle to the contest is the weirdness going on with Lord Cruddas' petition, hosted on the Conservative Post website. The petition is a demand from Conservative Party members for Johnson to be included on the ballot - or for a concurrent vote asking for members' confidence in Johnson to be tested.

None of this is actually feasible under the party constitution (which explicitly bars a leader running in the race caused by their resignation), barring a serious rewrite of the rules. But it's doing big numbers in some niche corners of the internet, and the Telegraph's Christopher Hope seems to have gone all-out on boosting the story at every chance he gets. As of this evening, the petition has reached 10,000 signatures, around 5% of the total party membership.

But, you ask, how is this verifiable? The petition requires everyone who signs it to include their Conservative Party membership number. Which sounds pretty solid, until you read the fine-print on the website:

We want to make sure this is completed by Conservative Party members only, and the best way to do this is by asking for your membership number so we can validate your membership status. If you don't know your membership number enter '0' for now and provide your address below.

So, there's a decent chance this thing could all be astroturfed. But if Johnson-appointed peers and the Telegraph & Express keep breathlessly reporting it, I'd expect it'll keep coming up for a while, especially if it 'reaches' 10 or 15% of the party membership.

Doing my part to save the Mother Country

Which Tory member name did you use, Haywood Jablowme or Amanda Hugginkiss?

I hope it was my favourite Mike Oxlong.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

I know Labour has a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but there must be some sort of miracle for them to loose against any of these two buffoons.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The Tories are the natural party of government in this country. In countries that have one party historically dominant over the other, the opposition typically has to work a lot harder to win elections.

Why, as a Swede I do believe I'm familiar with the concept of a historically strong and dominant party. But I also know that the dominance has a tendency to eventually turn into arrogance and that sooner or later it piss off the public. I'm pretty sure the Tories have reached that point and the bottom of the barrel of Tory talent are hardly likely to turn that around. But anything can happen in politics, so as you say maybe maybe.

I'm not sure though how strong of an endorsement it is of your favoured candidate that you believe she is lying to the Conservative membership and will u-turn as soon as it's politically convenient of her to do so, but considering her history it might very well be the correct thing to anticipate.