I continue to consult on who my constituents would like to see as the next PM. A good number have written into my email and some have expressed views here. The Wokingham Conservative Association has also consulted and is letting me know the balance of opinion amongst members who of course have a vote in any final ballot assuming there are two candidates with more than 100 MPs backing them. I am also seeking the views of the candidates on various matters of importance.
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October 22, 2022
I think you should amend the title of this Sir John and remove the word “leadership.” Your Party has demonstrated that it is incapable of supplying leadership.
A more appropriate title would be “Consultation on the next warm body which will occupy No.10.”
October 22, 2022
JR, none of them are interested in England or the UK having given up N.Ireland, fishing waters and All want mass immigration to destroy our culture and way of life! There is not even a least worse option! All accepted to renege on your manifesto with tax increases and mass immigration. Johnson got a technical Brexit but did not do or die to get a proper clean break- still in ECJ, ECHR, still giving billions each year to EU, still in Paris Agreement, still letting France do whatever itâs wants and happy to threaten our nation and protectorates.
So none of the above.
October 22, 2022
Agreed “none of the above”.
A general election please.
October 23, 2022
Rishi Sunak
October 23, 2022
Sunak is a serial manifesto breaker, a failed chancellor, he foolishly funded the ruinous & entirely pointless lockdowns and the dangerous and ineffective âvaccinesâ. He kept going with the moronic net zero agenda and with bascit case HS2, he deliberately debased the ÂŁ increased taxes massively from a very high base and failed even to try to cut out any significant government waste. Hunt his chosen Chancellor is just as bad or even worse.
Sunak is extremely likely to keep Starmer/Sturgeon out. Boris just might.
October 23, 2022
Hope :
Agreed, none of the above based upon current thinking.
So the membership will have to decide which candidate is the most likely to u-turn on mass immigration and the Net Zero lunacy.
October 23, 2022
@Hope +1 agreed just complictous egotistical rulers
October 22, 2022
Boris Pros &Cons
+ election mandate from 2019
+ campaigner / winner
+ popular in red wall (or was) and in shires
+ would be chosen by members
+ got big calls right Brexit, COVID, vaccines, Ukraine)
– not a man for detail
– often too flippant
– all the PartyGate history
– standards committee hanging over him
– ethics committee debacle
– could be suspended within weeks
Rishi Sunak Pros & Cons
+ financial expertise
+ more serious for serious times
+ perceived safer pair of hands than Boris?
+ BoE / OBR would prefer?
+ would carry more MPsâ support
– too much Treasury orthodoxy
– so recessionary more likely
– growth would be slow
– perceived to have back-stabbed Boris
On balance Rishi for serious times.
October 23, 2022
Sunak caused the current financial mess. The reason for Boris is he is far more electable than Sunak no one sensible (certainly in England) wants Starmer/Sturgeon .
October 23, 2022
General election now
October 22, 2022
I bet most of them are asking for Farage. After all both Boris and Soonack are big state, tax until it hurts socialists
Not a great choice.
October 22, 2022
yep
October 22, 2022
Farage? Uh I thought it was about a Conservative candidate for PM. Are you sure you are on the proper blog?
Anyway in the Wokingham constituency UKIP has never even reached 10% (in 2015) and before that was in the 2-3% range. So your âmost of themâ has very little connection to reality.
October 23, 2022
Hef,
If everyone took a timid view you might be correct. Perhaps people of that ilk would never had set sail to venture all the way around the world. Not everyone is timid and scared of their own shadow instead they act on what they feel is right. However, how did Farage win the EU elections based on unreliable polls? If one listened to the MSM, particularly your favourite the Guardian, no one would have ventured outside.
I stopped having regard for polls a long time ago, I suspect they are being used to persuade rather than accurately predict.
October 23, 2022
Hope, sorry, I donât think it has anything to do with having a timid view or not. As long as FPTP is the voting system in the UK Reform has practically no chance in a GE. Look at how much impact parties other than CUP or Labour have had in past GEs. UKIP/Brexit Party won in the European elections because of a more proportional voting system.
October 24, 2022
Courage Hef, courage.
October 22, 2022
RG40
Sir John
This is a difficult question. It is a bit like deciding whether you want to be hung, shot or crucified.
It seems there could only be three candidates given the fact that the bar is set so high at one hundred nominations.
Personally, I can’t trust Mr Sunak given the way he stabbed Boris in the back having already having produced his own leadership campaign video. He also presided over record borrow and spend figures.
Penny Mordant is a bit of an unknown quantity as far as I am concerned.
Boris Johnson does indeed have the election victory mandate to lead the country but I doubt if the left and media would allow it.
I would have to pick Mr Johnson if I had to pick one but, I would hope he rows back on the net zero obsession and stops giving our money and military equipment away. This I can’t see happening.
October 23, 2022
The 100 level was a fix up to keep Penny Mordaunt out and to further the ‘business as usual’ agenda after the Truss debacle. Stand by for even more tax increases.
October 23, 2022
@cliff Boris is good at saying what you want to hear then doing nothing. Nett Zero is seen as race by Boris, that has to punish the UK taxpayer
October 22, 2022
My wife and myself have sadly concluded that Rishi Sunak is the only viable candidate from a very poor list.
Neither of us would wish to see Mr Johnson return and Ms Mordant is a complete non-runner.
We are both resident within your Wokingham constituency Sir John.
October 22, 2022
Sunak can’t won’t the next election. He showed himself a very poor campaigner these last two months against Truss.
Boris on the other hand turned around the fortunes between March and December 2019 and can do the same again.
Anything beyond this is unnecessary detail.
October 22, 2022
Problem with Boris is that he may get suspended for misleading Parliament. So, are you going to have another leadership election in January?
I thought Penny handled herself well in the HOC the other day when Liz Truss went AWOL. But I’m not convinced that she is PM material yet.
So, it’s down to Rishi with all his flaws… đ
October 23, 2022
Donât you think Sunakâs job is to put up all the taxes, get the Tories to take the pain, so Starmer can come in without having to put the taxes up, these people at the top, especially very rich people arenât bothered about legacies, Sunak doesnât need to win anything. We were told we could trust in Truss but she got her strings pulled just look at her having to put Hunt in and Shapps (the man who allowed all those planes full of people with covid to come into our country unquarantined in the initial 3 week lockdown – it wasnât a lockdown for them).
They want Starmer back because he will sell the UK down the river into the hands of the EU, give up on ambitions to go global and tie us back in to EU trade restrictions, free movement of benefit claimants, under the rules as usual. Itâs like a game.
The Tories get blamed for austerity after Labours profligate spending on their paymasters desires and thats what is coming next. If we get Sunak people better get their ducks in a row. Sunak doesnât have to worry about taxes going up he doesnât have to be bothered with piffling things like tax. They can just take the pain for a couple of years and then go away anywhere in the World to re-feather his families nest.
Trouble is if Boris managed to get back, it would be only on the agreement to do everything he is instructed to do or heâd get suspended whilst his deputies put it all in place.
October 23, 2022
@Freeborn John. Boris & Sunak are the team that created the mess the UK is in. The both have tax and tax as the only way to raise money while at the same time increasing the cost of the State exponentially. If they had put the economy first we would be earning the money to full fill everyones dreams
October 22, 2022
As I have said here for many years Boris is completely unfit to be Prime Minister. If you elect him you may well break the Conservative Party as there are enough MP’s who will bring down the government before they will accept him as leader.
October 22, 2022
The only candidates I would personally support are Badenoch and Braverman, but I am unsure whether either have enough experience. I do believe they would work in the interests of the UK and Brexit which makes them a pretty rare example in the CONS party, and for that reason alone they will never be allowed to even get close! I don’t trust any of the other names being put forward.
October 22, 2022
Agreed and hopefully will be part of whoever gets elected Cabinet.
October 23, 2022
Doesn’t matter who gets in Cabinet, they all have to kowtow to the PM however whacky their ideas. Braverman got the sack for daring to be different.
October 22, 2022
It’s good to see you are doing your own research before voting John. For me stopping net zero and immigration have to be top of the list.
October 22, 2022
Nigel Farage with you as Chancellor?
October 22, 2022
I don’t know how a major political party could even consider Rishi Sunak for leader not just once but twice and now in preference to an outstanding politician, indeed a politician of genius, Boris Johnson. Is Sunak hypnotising M .P.s?
The very notion of Rishi Sunak, a man who says one thing and did the opposite on taxation, fighting the next election on handling the economy is absurd. It would be like The Charge Of The Light Brigade and like The Light Brigade Conservative M.P.s would be obliterated. Obviously Conservatives have to hold their ground with their own supporters on economic issues but as they could not even convince most university graduates that Corbyn would be an economic disaster, what chance has Sunak (even if things are improving by 2024) of winning over people suffering from huge fuel bills, high inflation and crippling mortgage interest – and all that with tax at the highest for 70 years?
Boris Johnson doesn’t win elections for nothing. He devises an excellent strategy and his execution of the strategy (where so many fall down) is masterful. He knows he must attack and undermine Labour not on their strongest but at their weakest points, Starmer being uncharismatic and unpopular and on the transparently absurd transgenderism Labour and other parties are peddling.
Also I know from talking to people what support Boris has is very strong support for delivering on Brexit and on Covid whereas any support for Sunak is superficial and will soon disappear. Sunak couldn’t even beat the disastrous Truss even among a Conservative electorate who didn’t rail against his unearned wealth, his Covid fine, his U.S. Green Card and his wife’s tax avoiding non-dom status, as Labour will do.
It is Boris Johnson or electoral wipeout.
October 23, 2022
… You are Boris Johnson and I claim my ÂŁ5.00.
October 22, 2022
On the basis that the unity of the country is of paramount importance I want the candidate chosen to lead the “Conservative and Unionist” to undertake to remove all EU checks and controls on the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, by hook or by crook.
Not to pursue Liz Truss’s idea of separating incoming goods between different channels with different intensities of checks and controls, and not to go along with the EU’s idea of simplifying its checks and controls, but to remove all EU checks and controls, and in both directions.
The alternative way to protect the EU Single Market, which would be a neighbourly thing to do, would be to replace the present checks and controls on imports into Northern Ireland with checks and controls on all the goods which are intended for export across the land border into the Irish Republic.
Which could easily be initiated by the trade secretary through an order laid under Section 12 of the Export Control Act 2002:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/28/contents
to extend the remit of the Export Control Joint Unit:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/export-control-joint-unit
to cover a new category of goods, “All goods carried across the land border into the Irish Republic”.
October 23, 2022
Denis I presume you know the geographical location of both Hook and Crook – just so we don’t confuse the readers any more – truth is we are locked into this international agreement with the EU that won’t magically go away – it was magically put in place by both Boris himself and Lord Frost – but unfortunately there is a downside to some things in life even magical things – also like intolerable things for instance the changing demographics that we often have to live with.
October 23, 2022
Truth is that the UK Parliament is sovereign, it is the supreme legal authority for the UK, and that international agreement with the EU will only have legal force within the UK for as long as Parliament continues to consent to that. Insofar as we are “locked” into it, the key is held by Parliament.
October 23, 2022
Your neighbourly suggestion should only be implemented if the French and others along that coast stop the invasion across the Channel. Fairs fair. They value their SM. We value our border.
October 22, 2022
Sir John, as my MP I wish you all the luck in making a choice.
So far as far as I’m aware none of the candidate’s have shown any interest in the actual UK economy. No economy equals no future for any of us. A vibrant economy creates the wealth that we all need.
From the candidate’s there appears to be a preoccupation with being compliant with outside influences that improve the lives of others before those these candidates wish to serve – the UK
I would guess it is not your thing, as you appear and do take your MP obligations seriously(old school, not ego first), but to me by abstaining you would not even be wasting a vote. You are not being asked to vote for someone that wishes to serve the UK people or is a Conservative.
You could even say you are being asked to ensure more decline and a Labour Government.
October 22, 2022
I notice that there is an assumption from the hoard of so-called Conservative MP’s that the dire debt hole that has consistently been fed for the last few years has nothing to do with those putting themselves forward to be PM, it’s all Liz Truss’s fault. 2 months ago we had strong pound and energy a plenty.
October 22, 2022
As already stated acouple of posts back, my answer to the question as to who I would like to see as PM remains:
Sir John Redwood.
(Btw, I do not imagine for one moment there will be any membership vote. The 1922 Committee has carefully worked out the ‘voting rules’ so as to ensure a coronation for Crown Prince Sunak.)
October 22, 2022
The Parliamentary Party is the impediment to electing a proper Conservative. Most Tory MPs would not recognize Conservatism if it hit them in the face.
We are resigned to political disaster probably for the rest of our lives. At least the USA knows what it has to do – return Trump. We canât even fight because anything worth fighting for is disallowed.
October 22, 2022
Is Coco the Clown standing ………………………
October 22, 2022
Which of several are you talking about?
October 22, 2022
You cannot conceivably vote for Boris Johnson as he has consistently lied to the public and to the House. Richi Sunak would appear to be the only candidate with sufficient gravitas and experience to stand any chance of getting the country out of the mess the conservatives and Liz Truss have just placed us, and I trust you will therefore vote accordingly.
October 22, 2022
How are you expecting to hang on to those ex-BNP voters if it is – as many expect – Rishi Sunak?
October 22, 2022
Like the few hundred BNP members would make any difference NHL
A typical slur from you.
More votes for Labour with Socialist Worker supporters.
So your premise is a failure.
October 22, 2022
At their maximum the BNP achieved 563,743 votes out of a population of 70 million.
You and your ilk, NLH, never ever credit the British people with rejecting them. Instead politics and BBC ‘entertainment’ is geared towards smearing the vast majority as being latent BNP and the greatest threat to this nation.
October 22, 2022
You can but try. Chances are it will be down to two retreads who first time around were globalist left of centre socialists. What are they planning to do this time. Talk about the NI Protocol but do nothing, continue to run the immigrant boat service, tax us into oblivion killing enterprise and investment, bewail the price of coal oil and gas while sitting on our own vast resevoirs but doing nothing to tap into them, and worst of all listen to the BOE, OBR, IMF, the Treasury and even uncle Joe across the pond for their inacruate globalist advice. If they do go back to everything negative they will get their answer in 2024. They are in the last chance saloon whoever they may be.
October 22, 2022
Excellent. I do wonder what the typical members around the country understood each candidate previously to be intending to do if elected. Forget the public grandstanding – were inside opinions sought?
This might be borne out by Truss / Kwarteng not consulting her Cabinet (really?) and seemingly not knowing how to fund his views?
My opinion, possibly worthless view, is that Johnson had his time in the sun and blew it in so many ways. Sunak appears to be too bedded with the City profit taking organisations with little regard for the welfare of the electorate.
Mordaunt likes a jack tar, helped perform magic(which makes her wonderfully suitable) votes for and against (very odd) all manner of issues, but has been against measures to prevent climate change, for increase in threshold for paying income tax, is against lowering voting age, for local councils keeping money raised from taxes on business premises, for fewer MPs in the House of Commons, for more restrictive regulation of trade union activity, for stronger enforcement of immigration rules, for reforming the NHS. So perhaps rather more than ‘the pretty face’.
October 22, 2022
Rishi is the main mainly responsible for the current economic mess. He is a serial manifesto ratter, a tax to death, borrow, currency debase and piss down the drain merchant. Also a hugely extended lockdown enthusiast. He also knifed Boris and surely helped to orchestrate the rapid knifing of Truss and Kwasi.
Truss and the Kwasi “budget” really just drew attention of the money markets to the huge economic mess left by Sunak, Hammond & Osborne.
We need the old free market, small government, climate realist, pre-Carrie Boris please. He has to save the country from the dire Starmer and Sturgeon who are even worse that the Tories have been. Boris has, by far, the best chance.
October 22, 2022
as the song goes (Lesley Gore 1963
Songwriters: John Jackson / Wally Gold / John Gluck Jr / Taiwan Green / Herb Weiner.
It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
But Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he’s supposed to be mine?
It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Play all my records, keep dancing all night
But leave me alone for awhile
‘Til Johnny’s dancing with me
I’ve got no reason to smile
It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you.
Members all over the country could be singing this soon.
October 22, 2022
Plus the lockdown fraud. Billions to gangsters and sent off overseas. Track and Trace on its own was greater in waste than the ‘unfunded’ tax cuts that threw us into turmoil.
October 22, 2022
Westminster, as TV Soap Operas go, it’s not as good as Eastenders or Coronation Street. The scripts are too repetitive and the same old actors keep turning up, speaking the same old glib lines. Alas the TV viewers have no more influence on a Westminster story line or the actors of it, than they do on an Eastenders or Corry equivalent. Is the UK electorate bothered! Not a bit.
This week’s episode of Westminster features a yet another voting system which; I am reliably informed, is a direct copy of the that used by the BBC for the “strictly come dancing” programme. Where apparently, it is possible for the lay audience vote to keep selecting to go forward; a person who can’t dance but is a bit of a clown. Ring any bells?
October 22, 2022
Ring any bells says acorn.
Like the bells that rung in the coronation of Brown after Blair gave up.
I can’t ever recall getting a vote for your lefty heroes at that time acorn.
October 24, 2022
No we didnât get a vote, but we knew (at least some of us) that after their dinner on 12 May 1994 at Granita, Islington, that A. Blair would pass the premiership to G. Brown during his second term.
I donât remember anything equivalent between the various actors of the present comedy act. Do you know the date of such an agreement between Johnson, Truss, and possibly Sunak?
October 25, 2022
So having an agreement between two politicians makes it all fine and democratic does it?
October 22, 2022
We require a two year period of stability. The MP’s and the Party as a whole have to unite behind
whoever is elected. The economic outlook is poor in the short time but most countries are facing
the same situation. The national media seem reluctant to acknowledge this critical factor.
We have to be positive and begin utilising our own energy sources. The environment is important
but the critical solutions should be resolved by technical innovation. We have first class universities
and engineers who are capable of discovering solutions. The commitment to NET ZERO should be based
on science and technology NOT slogans and the left wing zealots.
October 22, 2022
“The commitment to NET ZERO should be based on science and technology” – if it were based on real science and rational logic there would be no commitment to net zero at all.
October 22, 2022
My gut instinct is go with Boris, after all, there is no question who owns the mandate to govern.
However, the fact that he would be immediately immersed into the Commons enquiry which will go on for weeks with Opposition members calling every possible witness they can trawl up to criticise him is difficult. What if he gets a significant suspension ?
I like Penny Maudaunt but at this difficult time, she has insufficient experience, in my view.
Much as I dislike much of Sunak’s actions as Chancellor, we have seen that the perfectly reasonable growth plan proposed by Liz Truss was destroyed by the markets, all because of the small proportion of spend on the 45p tax rate and the whole plan had to be consigned to the dustbin. A much more conventional approach is going to be essential to keep markets on side.
As a certainty, that will inevitably bring on a recession
But, we simply have to win the next election. Had proven election winner, Boris, not made so many mistakes after his undoubted success on Brexit, vaccines and the Pandemic, he would be the obvious choice. I think he was very unfairly treated but I don’t think the voters will forgive him. Therefore very, very regrettably, I would have to go withSunak.
Reply False narrative on markets
October 22, 2022
To keep markets on side just stop the government from wasting money and cut the size of the state.
October 22, 2022
Coincidentally this also keeps voters on side. No candidate is offering this agenda.
October 23, 2022
Indeed if we cut out the vast government waste we have no need to borrow at all and thus no need to be beholden to the money markets.
October 22, 2022
Andrew Neilâs interview on the LBC Andrew Marr Show yesterday is something worth listening to (available on YT).
October 22, 2022
Andrew Neil and William Hague are, as usual, getting things totally wrong. Even the usually reliable (but scientifically ignorant) Charles Moore is too. Serial manifesto ratter and tax to death, borrow, currency debase and piss down the drain Sunak would be a dreadful choice. Hunt too is an appalling choice as Chancellor (I assume was chosen by Sunak and is just obeying Sunak’s orders)
October 22, 2022
What is wonderful is to know that you are always totally right, arenât you?
The next Marvel Movie, a superproduction in Super Dolby Surround Sound Technicolor will be âLifelogic against the Worldâ.
October 22, 2022
hefner,
What costume would our hero wear?
I suggest he always carries an engineering degree certificate with supernatural powers to seek out and combat wrongdoing.
Money would be prevented from going down drains, ‘greencrap’ would be anticipated and averted. Protesters would be unglued and swept out of the way with a simple of wave of the wand/certificate.
October 23, 2022
Well no I am alas not always right, I bet on Boris to be PM when he stood the first time but got knifed by that socialist snake Michael (let’s have VAT on private school fees to destroy them) Gove. We thus had to suffer the appalling Theresa May for three years.
I was even initially was tricked/conned by the government into believing that the Covid Vaccines had been shown to be fairly effective and safe and even took them myself. They clearly were neither safe nor effective and did seem to have done net harm to hundreds or thousands. I did however not fall for the mad extended lockdown, shutdown of schools or the use of useless masks or the ERM EURO disasters.
I even at one stage believed Boris was actually at heart a libertarian, small government person & a climate realist. It is sad that his is the best choice we have but then almost anyone will be better than socialist, manifesto ratters Sunak & Hunt.
Google Mark Dolan on Tobias Ellwood: ‘The most revealing tweets are the ones which are swiftly deleted’ to see what deluded socialist dopes we have a Tory MPs.
October 23, 2022
Ah yes, the tweet, the free market experiment has failed …. time for the Great Reset – or words to that effect.
Re B J – Just what is it exactly that his supporters are expecting to change for it is change that is expected by most. Just the thought of listening to him again in Prime Minister’s Questions is off putting enough and his inability to answer a straight question during interview too. Tired of jokes and charisma, Peppa Pig, friends & partners rhetoric, all the avoidance, can kicking & little or no interest evident in things worrying many; cultural issues, education stretching to indoctrination issues & rights of parents, immigration legal & illegal, NI Protocol, N Z & much else that other contributors have said in the past & continue to do so. I read yesterday that a number of MPs previously against him have changed their stance to supporting him. So what do they know that we do not as we have no way of questioning any of them at this point.
October 22, 2022
I wish my MP were more like you. He just announced his personal choice immediately.
Seeking the view of all your constituents is admirable. Listening your your Association again is admirable.
The biggest problem is are they all agreeing to come back as long as they follow Hunts advisors instructions to the letter for the next five years!
October 22, 2022
I wish all Tory MPs were far more like JR and far less like daft green crap pushing LibDems, Socialists or appalling career politicians like the dire Cameron, Hunt, Sunak, May, Major, Hammond, Osborne…
October 22, 2022
If the members selection committees could freely propose candidates, they would be! Until that is put right, we have Hobsonâs Choice. The common or garden MP does not even have the wit to put a Tory on the Leadership candidates list!
October 23, 2022
Hobson’s choice was just the one choice or nothing. Thomas Hobson (1544â1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge who offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in his stall nearest to the door or taking none. So they could not pick the better horses and leave behind the duffer ones.
Perhaps better and more profitable to use a price mechanism to match supply and demand! This is certainly what we need at the NHS, energy and indeed most markets.
October 23, 2022
Thats what the 1922 have done to us.
October 22, 2022
The party couldnât organise a p-up in a brewery â all you had to do was schedule this Monday a secret ballot first pass the post âthe winner takes allâ vote and appoint the new PM the same afternoon
October 22, 2022
Many MPs want and try to protect their promotion prospects by voting for the candidate they think will win. Secrecy reduces their misguided tendency. An instant result is decisive yet including the wider Conservative Party membership would enable a broader-based result of the candidates’ support.
October 22, 2022
but allow anyone with 50+ backers from the outset. This way its a clear stitch up.
October 23, 2022
Transferable vote would be better. Each voter puts in order of preference votes distributed as each candidate drops out.
October 23, 2022
I donât care the mechanism so long as its completed in a single day quickly in secret
October 22, 2022
Penny Mordaunt is the high quality candidate. However if she does not become one of the remaining two and Boris Johnson does, he would then be the better choice.
October 22, 2022
Please end the pain. Vote Sunak not the best but please donât go back if they do what was it all all this heartbreak and economic misery for?
October 22, 2022
Stanley Johnson will vote for his son as he will “get the things he cares about done”:- “The environment (well no one wants a bad environment do they?), Europe (well what does that mean Stanley you are a remainer?), peace in our time (well that would be nice but alas not in the UK’s or Boris’s control and net zero (well that is clearly unscientific and hugely damaging economic lunacy and complete nonsense Stanley – perhaps time to grow up you deluded Oxford English graduate – go and study for energy engineering, energy economics and some physics you dope)
October 22, 2022
Do you remember the 60âs flower children? âWe all hate poverty, war and injustice, unlike the rest of you Squaresâ
Obviously those of us with an alternative planet donât care a jot for the environment or âthe planetâ.
October 23, 2022
Indeed but we have “the environment” we surely all want a pleasant and safe environment and then we have “net zero” a deluded and highly damaging religion.
October 23, 2022
LL :
Stanley Johnson, who according to Wikipedia considers himself French, is an excellent illustration of how Robert Conquestâs second and third laws of politics have made the Conservative Party, after many years in government, so infiltrated with power seekers that it is now unrepresentative of its original membership and philosophy and is consequently undergoing an internal civil war.
Stanley Johnson, together with many Conservative MPs should really be in the Green, viz Watermelon, Party as he advocates the economy destroying âNet Zeroâ lunacy and âEuropeâ meaning loss of sovereignty and uncontrollable immigration. The reason he stays in the Conservative Party is simply because it gives him more importance.
He is probably more of a bad influence on Boris than even Carrie and it is only Borisâ wish for popularity which holds him back from the more extreme policies of the Green Party.
October 22, 2022
Maybe our next PM could watch on YT the short (28:24) film produced by the FT âThe Brexit Effectâ.
October 23, 2022
The effect has been to reveal who was swimming naked in our Parliament and machinery of government, incapable of making sensible decisions. The EU infantilised our government, and indeed infantilised itself, which is why we face the present combination of problems over energy, debt, the economy and immigration.
October 22, 2022
Anyone but Rishi
October 22, 2022
Agree – Anyone but Rishi, Boris, Hunt or anyone who vote remain
October 23, 2022
+ many Glen. All we are given is a choice of executioners.
October 22, 2022
Sir John, I would say: start by deciding what your objective is and work back. Is your objective to give the Conservative Party a chance of winning the next GE, and keeping out Starmer and the SNP? If so, forget Sunak. The only possible leader for that mission is Boris Johnson. Is it to reverse the disastrous policies the government has been following? Then it’s again got to be Boris, as he has proved, back in 2020, that he can change course on major issues. Is it to keep the BBC and the other media jackals happy? Then just be done with it and have a general election. I’m a constituent who would at least have a candidate in it that I’d want to vote for, whatever else is going on!
October 22, 2022
Yes general election. Time to let the people decide end this mess
October 23, 2022
Agreed, Cheryl. We have been betrayed, deceived and abused far too often, and another two years of this government’s deliberate destruction of the UK would be mental agony. I doubt the Conservative Party is even capable of honesty. Boris has tarred you all and now you see political dishonesty as acceptable. It isn’t and never will be. We want democracy to be restored. Real democracy, not the facade you have given us!
October 22, 2022
Rishi Sunak – without a doubt.
October 22, 2022
But conservatives will still need a leader oh dear!
October 22, 2022
Sunak would certainly be the most irritating of the three, would be beholden to foreign family interests, be uninterested in the job except as a CV line, probably tax us out of growth, be out of touch with 99.99% of the population and lose the next election because of all the above.
On the plus side he can probably work a spreadsheet, so might be an advance on the previous incumbent.
October 22, 2022
Iâm a Conservative member, but think I really donât wish to support Mordaunt, Sunak or Johnson (with Carrie behind him) and I also do not wish to have Hunt as Chancellor. I donât want these immigrants coming in by boatloads in their thousands, or Net Zero. I had hoped youâld be in the government in a Treasury position in Trussâs administration but as the situation imploded, I was glad that you were not there taking the slings and arrows and probably getting shafted. I think the defence of the realm is vital, and so Boris, of the three, most likely to support this and provide in the budget the money and resources.
October 23, 2022
Christine, I think the Conservative Party has become so dishonest and anti-UK that no honest decent MP will want to be part of the government. The stink of corruption will taint all of them. Braverman saw the signs and she was wise to remove herself!
October 22, 2022
Shame some of the old very experienced big hitters did not put their names forward last time around, then we may not have been even talking about another leader.
Shame this time the bar is set at 100 supporters, as that does not give time for some to build support.
Do not like Sunak, just something about the way he does business that I do not like, and he is responsible for our present high tax rates, the huge fiscal drag on allowances, and for allowing far too many fraudulent Covid claims because he did not use a simple control of using past Income tax returns as proof of a business is actually business.
The Boris of 3-5 years ago would be good, but my worry is if he gets in again he will feel he is fire proof, will be emboldened and go off piste even more than last time, I also fear the media will hound him to the very end once more.
Please do not give Mordant house room, She talks a good game but is useless.
The media sadly are bringing this Country to its knees.
In truth it should be none of the above !
So sorry as a Constituent (RG41) I cannot offer you any sensible suggestions.
You know all of the candidates far far better than I do.
October 22, 2022
As a constituent, I would suggest either Sunak or (if you know her better than I do) possibly Mordaunt. Johnson has political talent, but at heart he cares for himself and likes to be popular, and in these hard times he will spend as much as he can get away with. He will also inevitably continue to drag down standards of public life and fail to run an effective government. Honesty and decency in politics are important for the long term and Boris has had a corrosive influence on these. After the Truss debacle, it may be that the Conservatives lose the next election, but please try to be responsible in the meantime, so that the Tory reputation is not completely shredded.
On tax, bear in mind the demographic pressures and the indubitable fact that the public want a decent health service, also schools, police, courts etc. Focus on supply side reforms to enable growth, and have a broad and fair tax base to pay properly for the services we need.
October 22, 2022
Sir John I predict that if Boris wins he will be on a plane (ignoring the CO2 footprint) to Kiev the following day, with a little gift of several billion for friend Elensky, who needs ÂŁ38 billion pa. Can we afford that?
Sunak scares me witless judging from his record. Iâm a lot less skittish than the functionaries who operate in the bond market.
A 4th woman PM – with a hit rate of 1 in 3. Rubbish odds.
I just donât know what to do. I am grateful that I donât have to cast a ballot.
October 22, 2022
Not Johnson, he has proven himself to be of poor character and a stranger to the truth. In addition he has been steered by public opinion and seems to have little strategy in place to cope with post brexit challenges. He has just offered hyperbole and bluster.
October 22, 2022
John , As many have said – I wish you were my MP . The choice is not an easy one . Boris is likely to come unstuck and Penny is more of an unknown . Sunak would have the confidence of the markets and that feature counts for a lot . I wish you good guidance .
October 23, 2022
But why should Mr Sunak have the confidence of the markets with his two years of a quarter trillion deficit? No other Chancellor has managed that. As for his character, he has now assassinated two PMs, causing untold chaos and instability.
October 23, 2022
Johnsonâs 80 seat majority was mainly a result of his promise to get Brexit done and the appalling prospect of Corbyn in No 10. His optimism and likeable personality helped a lot of course.
Then getting us into vaccinations quickly and out of mask wearing before others was also an achievement.
And he was the only big beast on the world stage among our gang of political pygmies.
But what else ?
Constantly praising our âfantasticâ NHS which it indeed is, when measured by waste and inefficiency.
Pushing the Net Zero insanity so as to make the UK look like a global leader at Cop26, irrespective of the crippling cost.
Not sorting out the NI protocol.
Not making any serious effort to stop illegal immigration.
Not stamping on woke idiocy in police, civil service and education.
Not vigorously campaigning to stop the SNP smashing up our country.
Not having any clue as to how the country will earn its living in the 21st century, other than foreign takeovers of everything in sight.
Will UK plc be better off with the Sales Director or the Finance man in the top job? Do we need a lot more customers and better brand awareness or more prudent accounting ? Optimism or gloom ?
BoJo will cheer us all up and make the Lefties scream and howl, which in itself is worthwhile.
Considering the PM doesnât run the economy anyway ( thatâs the job of wealth generating taxpayers ), my vote goes to the Devil We Know.
October 23, 2022
The UK needs the Sales Director, the promoter, the optimist. We need to grow and sell more all over the world. Growing sales it the only way to pay the bills.
From my experience all the best Sales Directors I know arenât so great at Managing others, most need the best back up administrators, a tight rein on their pricing strategies but when they are working full throttle they can achieve amazing things.
I want to ask Boris, you chose Sunak as your second in command to look after the finances of the UK, did you trust him right up until the blade sank in or had you started to have concerns?
Did Sunak have control over how much the NHS spent on equipment/PPE or not?
Your terrible No 10 office control who was managing the staff and running that department for you, especially when you werenât there? Did you select them? Did they have a contract setting out their parameters?
October 23, 2022
Vote in such a way that maximises the chances that the Conservative Party membership will get a vote.
I do not want another Mrs May coronation by MPs who would be more comfortable in any other party, including the communist party.
Any chance the candidates will be asked for their manifesto pledges as those of previous elections have been ignored, such as reducing immigration?
October 23, 2022
The view from Dublin, reportedly:
https://www.businesspost.ie/politics/dublin-hopes-for-pragmatic-sunak-as-next-british-pm/
“The government is privately hoping that Rishi Sunak will succeed Liz Truss as the next British prime minister rather than Boris Johnson.”
âDublin would take Sunak because of his pragmatism and his workability. Itâs definitely him over Johnson,â one government source said.”
I suppose by “workability” they mean “pliability”, or possibly “malleability”.
October 23, 2022
DC :
I do not believe Mr. Sunak when he says he voted leave.
He sees Net Zero as a means to achieve his globalist government ends. At COP26 he said :
âSo our third action is to rewire the entire global financial system for Net Zero.â
BTW, Mr. Sunak also said :
âItâs easy to feel daunted by the scale of the challenge that we face.
By sea levels rising; droughts and wildfires spreading; people forced out of their homes.â
Sea levels are rising by just 1.6 mm/year. Droughts are no greater or more frequent than in the past and wildfires are actually decreasing, as are deaths from all natural disasters. This is just HMG/BBC hysterical nonsense.
October 23, 2022
The issue of who will become the next place-holder at number 10 is all about how strong the left side of the tory party is – having easily removed a reasonable PM and imposed a chancellor, the odds are that they will see one of their own become PM.
If that doesn’t happen, this time, then the whole charade will be repeated.
The point is that the left tory establishment is calling the shots – they’ve already decided what the future holds for us, and that will have little in the way of democracy attached to it.
The only thing that might help, not knowing how many Tory MPs are right thinking, would be to split from the Conservatives and form a real conservative party.
October 23, 2022
Sir John,
Thank you for asking your constituents about this important question and I hope that you will be able to solicit as wide a range of views as possible on this within the Wokingham area.
Firstly, please can you avoid anything as simplistic as a Not Rishi candidate? This is, in some ways, how we ended up with Ms Truss and is never a good basis for hiring someone.
Secondly, please can you consider very strongly the reasons why Mr Johnson was asked to leave office? As a teacher, I am obliged to teach pupils about the importance of the rule of law as a cornerstone British value. It is incredibly difficult for the Conservative party to be the party of British values if you have an acknowledged rule-breaker as your leader. What tone does it set for the country? What does it say about us internationally? Our global brand and standing has already been damaged by Ms Truss’ government. We need to re-build our global position and any successful leader knows that it is the vision and VALUES that are the basis for improvement.
Whilst I acknowledge that Mr Johnson needed a break after an intense period in office, I do wonder why he was in the Caribbean until yesterday. Again, thinking as a teacher, I have periods of holiday that largely coincide with those of MPs. If I were to take a fortnight off work during term time, I would be rightly disciplined by the school and lambasted by the parents (regardless of how stressful the previous year had been).
Some people seem to think that Mr Johnson would be electorally popular. Whilst this may be true in some areas, it is worth noticing that your personal majority was cut by 11,000 votes between 2017 and 2019, taking you to less than 50% of the votes cast. At least in part, this is a consequence of central government’s housebuilding targets which have changed the demographic of Wokingham’s electorate but it is worth noting the change in leadership between those 2 elections. In the 2022 local elections, whilst Boris was still in office, the Conservatives lost control of the local council. I wonder how many long-term Conservative MPs might find themselves in marginal south-eastern constituencies as a result of returning to Mr Johnson. This year’s bye-elections have shown that voters do not like being taken for granted by their sitting MPs. (It is perhaps worth noting that getting Brexit done was a major factor in the election of 2019. With Brexit now largely done, you cannot rely on this sector of the vote.)
Any leader that you chose will have a mandate to govern so long as they stick to the commitments of the 2019 manifesto, with the unavoidable amendments required by changing economic circumstance. This is true of the five-years of any Parliament. People, whether they know it or admit or not, did not vote for Mr Johnson in 2019 (unless they live in Uxbridge). They voted for a constituency MP to carry out a given manifesto. Whoever becomes leader needs to ensure that they do not renege on the promises made in 2019 – a commitment to a greener and more sustainable future for our children (please can we have some long-term thinking on this, which might require a bit of cross-party agreement – it is not a 5-year issue) and a commitment to closing the gap in health and wealth between areas of the UK.
Many thanks again for asking the question. Good luck in making the decision in the interests of country and constituency.
October 23, 2022
The so called red wall and many other communities voted for the conservative party at the last election because it was the only party that guaranteed Brexit â they could have put up a picture of a pig in lipstick and they would have won âŠits wasnât their leader it was their commitment to Brexit that won the 2019 election
The party have forgotten the people and democracy
October 23, 2022
Agreed Glen.
October 23, 2022
Emma, donât teachers that need a fortnight off after a stressful period as Boris went through go on sick leave. During sick leave you are allowed on full pay to go away abroad if necessary to clear your head and get refreshed ready to take back on the stresses of your job. Well thatâs what teachers and nurses that I know do. There was a teacher in the newspapers yesterday who has been on sick leave for two years since covid an ex-PE teacher.
As for redemption, Boris effectively lost his post, was absolutely raked over the coals, in a way Iâm sure you teachers would never allow a child to be treated in front of everyone else. He lost his place in history as the Prime Minister that dealt with the passing of our magnificent Queen, quite a punishment for a person like Boris.
Wasnât it Boris staff that were breaking most of the âlawsâ? Can you remind me all the specific laws Boris broke, being in the same room as others at work with a drink and piece of cake wasnât a law break – Starmer got away with worse, he travelled and had a curry meal with other people he didnât normally work with, who Iâm sure were the first staff in the country to trial out the covid tests, if wasnât that he wasnât found not-guilty rather they decided not to pursue it, one rule for Boris one for Starmer. Rayner admitted when she left London as covid broke out in the Capital she caught a train and went straight to bed when she went home, all those poor people on that train! The SNP guy got on a plane to the Highlands yet only Cummins got pulled up for travelling away from London after he was no longer required at the office.
October 24, 2022
A very thoughtful response, Emma.
Just two points : For all their mistakes, I do not think that Boris or Sunak should have been fined in the way that they were.
Neither were organisers of “parties.” Boris was ambushed on his birthday in his place of work and Sunak just happened to have been in the room ready for the next meeting! Their mistake was to just accept the fines and hope the matter would go away. They should have realsied that the media and opposition would not leave the matter there. They should have refused the fines and gone to court. No fair minded judge or magistrate would have upheld the fines in those circumstances.
Secondly, the economic situation is such that we have to abandon Net Zero by 2050. It is completely unaffordable and unachievable. It’s also pointless because everybody knows that our emissions, already greatly reduced, will make not the slightest difference to Global Warming while China, India and the US continue as they are. Developing technology will probably be able to resolve CO2 emissions by 2050 anyway.
October 23, 2022
This will be the fourth PM in a row chosen by the Conservative party rather than by the country.
A general election is needed.
October 23, 2022
Wouldnât that be the 2nd Peter if Boris gets his position as prime minister back, since Boris election by the public choice in 2019 we have had:
Boris (and Truss for a blink, Boris wasnât removed by the electorate), back to Boris would be two.
October 23, 2022
No, definitely fourth in row.
May – won party leadership election (by default).
Johnson – won party leadership election.
Truss – won party leadership election.
PM next – some sort of leadership election (MPs or party, we don’t know yet).
Cameron was the last Conservative PM to get the job as a result of a general election.
October 24, 2022
The last general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. The Country elected Boris Johnson to lead the conservative party over the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour party.
Johnson didn’t only win the party leadership election. He did that after the European elections were held on 23 May 2019, at which the Conservatives came fifth with 9% of the vote, and the next day May announced her resignation. She resigned on 24 July 2019, after her former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson won the Conservative Party leadership election on 23 July. (Just a reminder that May also was re-elected by a general election on a much-reduced majority in July 2019.
I don’t understand your point because the Labour party, not the public choose their leaders, as do the Lib Dems.
Labour has had a lot of switcheroos too.
Harman 11/05/10 – 25/09/10
Miliband 25/09/10 – 08/05/15
Harman 08/05/15 – 12/09/15
Corbyn 12/09/15 – 04/04/20
Starmer incumbent.
October 24, 2022
I know the parties choose their leaders, however the PM is the leader of the country, which is a different, bigger role. The UK has seen more PMs get the role by winning a party leadership election in recent decades than PMs who have got the role by winning a general election.
Here’s a list of PMs from the last 50 years:
Sunak – party leadership election.
Truss – party leadership election.
Johnson – party leadership election.
May – party leadership election.
Cameron – general election.
Brown – party leadership election.
Blair – general election.
Major – party leadership election.
Thatcher – general election.
Callaghan – party leadership election.
Wilson – general election.
11 PMs, only 4 got the job through a general election, 7 from a party leadership election.
October 23, 2022
How can we have an election without the governing party having a leader to ask for it?
October 24, 2022
The power to call a general election sits with the Prime Minister. The UK still has one of those even though she’s a lame duck.
October 25, 2022
Thanks Peter, again you say Johnson â party leadership election.
No! you are wrong.
Boris Johnson was leader having won a GENERAL ELECTION in 2019!
Theresa May was leader having won a GENERAL ELECTION (after 6 months winning as a party leadership election). She was unwise losing a big majority but she still won a GENERAL ELECTION.
October 23, 2022
What do Conservative MPs have in common with the EU?
They both make you vote until they get what they want.
October 23, 2022
After you supported Liz Truss in the last leadership election, I can see why you might need help in deciding who to vote for in the next one. But even so, it really should be a no-brainier. Boris isn’t going to change and will in the end be a disaster (although maybe not at the Truss level). In any case the opinion polls show that the electorate have rumbled him. Penny Mordaunt lacks experience and gravitas so would be a big gamble at the best of times. These are not the best of times. Which leaves Rishi. Like it or not. I hope you do not need to grit your teeth to vote for him but vote for him you must if you have care about the future of the country. And the Conservative party.
October 23, 2022
Please call a general election, as we have seen no one has any mandate to move the country forward without it. We donât need two more years of in fighting damaging progress, we need the people to choose the direction now. Run on the strength of your ideas and policies and if you win you might actually get something done and if you donât, youâll be giving the population what they and Britain might be a happier and better place. Please!!
October 23, 2022
Boris, please. His peccadilloes have been greatly exaggerated. He represents the obvious way for the nation to build on its decision over Brexit and the best hope for the Conservatives in the next election. He also holds a mandate from the electorate which refutes any calls for a general election.
October 24, 2022
ah, bless
October 23, 2022
Sir John â I feel your anguish.
You and your colleges are being forced into deciding which version of Socialism do you want. There is no Conservative option
The at the GE the people will have to choose between Labour and Labour.
In other words do you want real decline or extreme decline.
October 23, 2022
Iâm so cross. Looking at this morning news the Conservative party looks like the unelected voting for the unelectable or visa Versa. With the same old faces & man in suits doing deals behind closed doors, closing ranks, shutting out others in order to reshuffle the same old network faces into different ministerial roles with the same old failed policies presented in a different way. All to stay in power and in the interests of themselves not the country. They must think the public are stupid
October 23, 2022
Either that or they know that FPTP voting means most of us are totally irrelevant and can comfortably be ignored.
October 23, 2022
Your being presented with such an unappetising choice, Sunak or Johnson, is there any reason for either to be supported? Both have too many marks against them (as identified by several commenters above), and neither deserve office.
October 23, 2022
“… neither deserves …”
October 23, 2022
Sir John,
This post is to shine a bright light on the proposal by Original Richard:
Cast your vote to ensure party members have a final say.
Arguments for/against the former PM and the former Chancellor have been well-presented and you may have your own personal preferences based on the feedback you received on your questions. However, this way the consent of the governed is at least to some extent (100 threshold) acknowledged.
October 23, 2022
There is no-one to vote for. Since no candidate seems minded to take your sensible advice there seems to be no reason to vote at all. The Labour Party are now too frightened by the prospect of economic and energy and ultimately societal disaster to want to take over. They offer more of the same. They would rather the Conservatives take the blame.
The effort now needs to go into providing the public with a sane choice at the next election. If that is to come from Conservatives there will need to be a wholesale clearout of MPs and candidates by Constituency Associations. Otherwise it will have to come from a different party.
October 23, 2022
It would be really interesting to find out what plans they have to deal with the very real problems we face, both here and abroad. So far this sort of questioning has failed to materialise in the national press, who seem more interested in the personalities. It struck me that Liz Truss at least offered the country some hope, finally challenging the orthodoxy that has created these messes, which was why it was so disappointing to see most of her colleagues refusing to offer her any support – which is a very polite way of describing what they did to her.
It would also be quite nice to understand who is pulling Hunt’s strings. I think we have to assume it is the Treasury tail wagging the Government dog, again! It must be difficult being a conservative MP in these difficult times.
October 23, 2022
I would consider the question differently. Sir John is unlikely to lose the support of the CUP members within the Wokingham constituency, or even if he would there is little chance that the National Conservative Party would not support him whenever a GE is called. So the really important people to cajole are the Conservative voters within the constituency, much more important to his future re-election than a Conservative voter or member from outside it.
So Sir John should check which candidate potential Conservative voters in Wokingham are more likely to support if he really wants to represent them in this leader/PM vote.
October 23, 2022
I feel I we can see the future with Rishi, a slow decline followed by a sharper mess with a labour government, we know he is a big spender (of other peoples money).
Boris, I’m not so sure. Part of the economy is “the feel good factor” and Boris is certainly a benefit for it. But it all hinges on whoever he selects and if they can actually reduce government costs. If he doesn’t then we go the same way as Rishi.
So it feels a no-lose scenario because there is no benefit of a Rishi solution.
October 23, 2022
Sir John, my suggestion is to abstain as none of the candidates are suitable. Then call for an election on a new mandate because the 2019 mandate sank with the pandemic. Finally resign your seat with good grace before you lose it.
October 23, 2022
Boris is right about one thing. It is not possible to unify the party. Sunak will now govern as a minority government with support from the opposition benches. They will effectively control the order paper without having the concomitant responsibility. A vote of less than half the party, some of them very reluctant, is not a position of strength.
Meantime voting is proving redundant in our sham democracy.
October 24, 2022
What rubbish !
Self preservation will ensure that under Sunak, Conservative MPs have looked over the cliff and will now be more disciplined and tow the line.
With an 80 seat majority, there is no question about which party will control the order paper.
Think about Labour : Starmer’s right wing of the Labour party is way under half of his MPs. A majority would replace him in the blink of an eye, if they could. The Labour party in the country is far more left wing than the MPs thanks to Miliband and Corbyn.
The Conservative vote will recover as long as Sunak does a good job, and I think he will. Things will look very different over the next two years and we will be back to a situation where Starmer can only win with the support of the SNP and LibDims. There has to be considerable doubt as to whether English voters will allow the SNP to be calling the shots, as Ed Miliband found out.
October 24, 2022
not much point in listening to them now. Most of your colleagues don’t seem all that bothered what their constituents think. You are actually a beacon of goodness in an otherwise sterile place!
October 24, 2022
I very much like Penny Maudaunt but she doesn’t yet have the experience to be PM in such difficult times.
Also, if she scrapes enough supprt from MPs, gets on the ballot and then wins amongst the membership, she will face the same difficulties as Liz Truss who found out that a leader has to have the support of her MPs.
Far better for Maudant to negotiate a good job ( Foreign Secretary springs to mind ), and withdraws from the race.
I think she will shine on the world stage and she is young enough to come back and win the leadership next time.
October 24, 2022
I now believe itâs imperative that Mordant obtains the 100 MPs required to be on a ballot. The Members MUST decide.