Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2022, Take Two

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Grandee intervention:
https://mobile.twitter.com/HenryTribe/status/1583500400488898561
It’s not surprising, the grandees pretty much all despise Johnson, but still pretty strong language for Hague, who’s typically quite measured.

And this even further complicates things if Boris still returns. What is said cannot be unsaid.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The first decade of the 20th century called, it wants its dysfunctional and infighting-ridden Tory party back.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Interesting to see the Times and Telegraph basically beg the party not to pick Johnson, given his tenure (and close relations) with both publications (the Telegraph in particular). Never thought I’d see the day that a Telegraph front page told us “now is not the time for Boris”.

https://www.tomorrowspapers.co.uk/

Would the times endorse Labour? They did so in 2001 iirc

They’re calling for an immediate general election, which is a defacto Labour endorsement. Whether that’ll still be the case when Parliament eventually dissolved is unclear…

It seems that kind of stance basically is "Either someone besides Boris or there is a general election". If I'm reading that right...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Would the times endorse Labour? They did so in 2001 iirc

Since around 2010 the British press have been more ideologically right wing/partisan Conservative than they were in the past. The Times might endorse Labour in the current climate, but in an election close enough for things like that to matter they probably wouldn’t.

Quick guide for non-British forum members on the partisan allegiance of the British press:
The Mirror - Partisan Labour.
The Guardian - Labour, but more than anything ‘not Conservative’ progressive types.
The Financial Times - Fairly liberal, will probably endorse Labour especially against a Boris/Truss type PM.
The Times - Might endorse Labour if things don’t significantly change, essentially the last ‘respectable’ centre-right paper left.
The Sun - Previously backed Blair, but has been pretty avowedly Conservative since.
Daily Express - Backed Blair in 2001, but very much the pensioner Pravda that would only abandon the Conservatives for a credible further right option these days.
Daily Mail - Obviously Conservative, would happily endorse them even in a snap election right now.
Daily Telegraph - See above.

Reminded me of this great clip.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/christiancalgie/status/1583838954138501121?s=20&t=rHJcwo...

lmao, he's supposed to be fresh from a vacation yet he looks tired and worn down. Bodes well for a future PMship...

The guy looks so miserable.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/christiancalgie/status/1583838954138501121?s=20&t=rHJcwo...

lmao, he's supposed to be fresh from a vacation yet he looks tired and worn down. Bodes well for a future PMship...

The guy looks so miserable.

Well, he probably was just booed by his co-passengers all the way back to the UK, so I suppose that wears you down.

Incredible if they had the motivation to keep it up long enough to make a man like him wore down like that.
It's such a sea-change from the sunny Boris we're used to.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If Sunak walks cheerily out of this meeting, and Johnson mysteriously stands down, what do you think Johnson’s price was?

• Peerage?
• Cabinet post?
• Guaranteed a seat than Uxbridge at the next election?
• Appointed Ambassador to Ukraine?
• Plush cabinet post?
• Privilege Committee iced?

Ambassador to Ukraine might be it. It would allow him to continue being in the public eye, and the country clearly likes him.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Why would the Johnson camp lie about having the 100 signatures? Would that not just hurt them, as MPs on the fence about backing Johnson might not bother with it if they think that he already has the required number.

Perhaps they feel it would generate a bandwagon effect as people would want to throw their lot in with Boris for sake of their careers or something.
That's the best I can think of.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

"I'm sure I would have won, but I have decided to drop out anyway. Bye."


Reminds me of the ending of Machete where Steven Seagal as the villain decides to commit seppuku, because the only one capable of defeating Steven Seagal is Steven Seagal.

...or a disintegrating F-117.

But seriously, this whole "But I totally got the required number of nominations. Seriously." act only cements him as the pound-shop Trump.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

One difference between Sunak and Johnson is that Sunak is not drowning in personal debt. There's a reason why quite a few of Johnson's scandals during his time in No. 10 involved abuse of state property or questionable funding from third party donors...

Sunak has the opposite problem. He and his wife (mostly his wife) have a net worth of almost 5 billion dollars

Come to think of it Sunak might be one of the few billionaire leader of a democratic county

I've kind of changed my opinon on Sunak, he's currently rich but he wasn't realy born into it. His family background is solidy upper-middle class, and I think that probably allows him to appele better to the electorate than someone born a plutocrat.

What total bollox, he went to one of the most elite schools in the country, and was filmed litterally saying he doesn't even know poor people.

A lot of upper-midde class people are like that, tbh socializing outside of our socioeconomic status is the exception rather than the norm.

That's probably even truer in Britain than in America. Possibly.