A Conservative leadership contest like this must never happen again
(Shutterstock)
It is becoming almost impossible to calculate the damage being done to the Conservative Party, and, much more importantly the country, from the leadership contest now mercifully nearing its belated conclusion.
This is not an argument to retain Boris Johnson. Sitting administrations have not infrequently changed Prime Ministers and must keep the right to do so if the confidence of Parliament and ministers in a Government has been lost.
But I think events have demonstrated that it is now time for the Conservative Party to decide that, should it ever be in the position again of changing a leader who is also Prime Minister, it cannot inflict upon the country as a whole the process we are witnessing. And I say this as a member of the Conservative Party who is perfectly prepared to lose my vote in such a contest.
The damage to the Party itself is clear from the ferocity of rival camps attacks upon each other. No attempt appears to have been made by them, despite I am sure requests from senior Party figures, to rein themselves in. Phrases such as “suicide note”, “taking a holiday from reality”, “scorched earth” etc. provide only a platform for political opponents, not for future party unity.
The nature of the process, in which a tiny handful of UK electors decide who the next PM will be, has meant that the contest had to be very public, with hustings open to press and now, invariably, chaired by media figures who, not unjustifiably, see an opportunity through asking the right questions to make the weather. The danger of this is that it goads the candidates into answering the audience in front of them as they would want, not the wider public. We reached a stunning point in Norwich where the Foreign Secretary preferred to give a response to a question about “Macron: friend or foe?” pitched to the prejudices of some in the Conservative Party, rather than an answer in keeping with her present, let alone future role.
Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have also by this stage comprehensively trashed the record of the Conservative Governments of which they have been part, as if collective responsibility can be dropped like a stone through a wet paper bag when convenient. No Conservative MP now has a credible platform to defend years of economic policy, after Liz Truss has savaged it in the process of attacking the Chancellor. And Rishi Sunak’s astonishing interview with the Spectator, revealing his claim that information was deliberately withheld from senior Ministers by No 10 during the crucial decision making on Covid lockdown and restrictions is, frankly, jaw-dropping to this former Minister of State. The truth or not of this must be quickly established, bearing in mind the impact of these events, and the absolutely fundamental need for trust between a people asked to restrict their freedom in response to a government which they accepted faced almost impossible decisions. They deserve better than to have this raised during this process.
Damage to the UK can be seen in this, and also in the inability of what is now an interim administration, with a range of ministers aware that they are keeping their seats warm for others, to be seen to be attending to a set of crises which would stretch any stable, experienced government. They are unable to announce support for those terrified by energy increases, or to clarify what economic policy will be from the autumn onwards. No wonder the public increasingly feel being taken for granted by what is being inflicted upon them.
It is too late to change now, but Sir Graham Brady and the 1922 Committee would be wise to conclude that the Conservative Party, if in office, cannot run another contest like this. I would be all for this sort of exploration of where the party might be going should it be in Opposition, with time and fewer responsibilities. But while in office MPs, the elected representatives of all voters in their constituencies, not just their Conservative ones, should make a speedy decision on behalf of them all, answerable through the respective party and electoral processes to which they are already subject. I did not join a political party fifty years ago to vote for the Prime Minister, but for a whole variety of reasons, and I suspect many others feel the same.
Nothing in this contest has dissuaded me from previous articles when I set out what needs to happen for a long-term sitting government to lose: internal disagreements, a sense amongst the public that it is time to go, and a credible Opposition Prime Minister in waiting. Conservative members attending the final hustings or poised over ballot papers should reflect on how the process we are part of is contributing to that second factor, and reminding the rest of the UK that the choice of Prime Minister is not either Rishi or Liz at all. They do have other choices.
A Message from TheArticle
We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout these hard economic times. So please, make a donation.
