Who will be our next Prime Minister? - Rishi Sunak!

[Cowley]

Sunak has it in the bag no other person has any chance of salvaging anything from the current Tory wreckage. The MPs know that Johnson is damaged goods and what they say in public and what they do in private when voting will be two different things.

At this point I think I agree. Johnson allies saying that he’s got over 100 backers smacks of populist puffery to me and I’d have thought that the majority of Tory MPs would rather this vote didn’t get anywhere near the membership this time (mainly due to the high potential of them sticking Johnson back in).

I can’t see anyone other than Sunak becoming PM next week now.
I guess he’ll try and steady the ship and hope that people forget about calling for an election. I just hope that people don’t forget about all of this…

 

[43096]

Johnson doesn't possess much leadership qualities to begin with because he is always focused on the prize

He's not focused on the prize. He's a narcissist who is only interested in himself.

Not going to happen though Tories are naturally an immoral bunch only concerned about themselves im afraid.

And Labour aren't? They're exactly the same.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Considering your location is in Aberdeenshire, you may or may not be aware that in the 2019 election, much of the electorate in Scotland voted for the SNP that resulted in them winning 48 out of 59 constituencies (81%).

The SNP got 45% of the vote in Scotland in 2019. I'm not sure why you're choosing to quote the % of MPs - which is obviously distorted by the FPTP electoral system, when the % of the vote is rather clearly the better measure of which party Scots wanted.

Despite this, Scotland did not get the government that it voted for, which has been the case since 1979.

Eh? How are you defining 'the Government it voted for'. In 1997, 2001 and 2005, we got a Westminster Government that was voted for by a large plurality of Scots - which seems to me to be as close as you can reasonably get to 'the Government it voted for'.

 

[yorksrob]

At this point I think I agree. Johnson allies saying that he’s got over 100 backers smacks of populist puffery to me and I’d have thought that the majority of Tory MPs would rather this vote didn’t get anywhere near the membership this time (mainly due to the high potential of them sticking Johnson back in).

I can’t see anyone other than Sunak becoming PM next week now.
I guess he’ll try and steady the ship and hope that people forget about calling for an election. I just hope that people don’t forget about all of this…

I feel sorry for Sunak.

In a normal situation he could potentially be a decent Tory PM.

If he gets involved with this crap fest, he's tarnished. If I were him I'd go on holiday for a couple of months.

 

[Cowley]

I feel sorry for Sunak.

In a normal situation he could potentially be a decent Tory PM.

If he gets involved with this crap fest, he's tarnished. If I were him I'd go on holiday for a couple of months.

I find it quite difficult to feel sorry for him, but at least he’s willing to take something extremely difficult on despite having a fairly good idea of what to expect.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Ah, okay, it was hyperbole for effect. Let me have a go: I don't want a government based on Tory values like tax cuts for the rich funded by borrowing, unlimited bonuses for bankers and massive cuts to public services.

Oh, wait...

In addition to those points I don't want a government run by a law-breaking liar. Whatever colour rosette, for however long and with however much support from their own MP's, own party members or the public generally.

 

[AlterEgo]

You sum it up succinctly they had 357 MPs to chose from and they couldn't even find two people who could do the job.

Well quite. A massive majority and they can’t find proper leadership.

Also they keep complaining about “culture wars” but insist on only sparingly using that majority to actually make any changes, instead preferring to sit in the corner, weeping about being bullied or something. 80 seat majority government, that. Pathetic wastrels.

 

[Sorcerer]

He's not focused on the prize. He's a narcissist who is only interested in himself.

The two are not mutually exclusive, and he's very much interested in the prize of being Prime Minister because it elevates his own social status.

And Labour aren't? They're exactly the same.

I think demonstrably the Conservative Party in it's present state are very much worse than the Labour Party. Keir Starmer might be a bit of a wet wipe, but Boris Johnson is a proven law-breaking liar, and the fact there's even serious unironic thought of bringing him back for the office of Prime Minister demonstrates just how morally twisted the party is right now.

 

[DerekC]

Well, the odds from the bookmakers are moving in favour of Sunak, rather to my surprise. Now:

Sunak 4:1 on
Johnson 7:2
Mordaunt 20:1

Maybe they know something we don't. There are certainly suggestions that a large number of the 100 MPs claimed by Johnson's supporters are wishful thinking.

 

[Gloster]

BBC reporting that Sunak and Johnson have held talks. With most people it would be fairly obvious that Johnson was trying to do a deal wherein he recommends that everybody support Sunak, in return for which he gets a plum. However, one can never be sure what Johnson is up to and, even if he is making a deal, whether he would keep to it if he reckoned that he had the 100 nominations.

 

[dosxuk]

I’m just saying a lot of people seem to judge Johnson for Partygate more than his actual leadership.

And yet it wasn't partygate that ended his tenure, it was his poor leadership skills and the dogs dinner he made of party discipline.

His cabinet revolted because they got fed up of going on TV to try and argue away criticism as irrelevant, only for Boris to u-turn over night and make them look like idiots.

The beginnings of his downfall were not amongst the cake ambushes and leaving speeches, it was the Patterson nonsense where they literally tried to throw the rule book away for one of their favoured members.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Well, the odds from the bookmakers are moving in favour of Sunak, rather to my surprise. Now:

Sunak 4:1 on
Johnson 7:2
Mordaunt 20:1

Maybe they know something we don't. There are certainly suggestions that a large number of the 100 MPs claimed by Johnson's supporters are wishful thinking.

All they know is Torys need to protect the brand and thus there ability to save as many seats as possible and BoJo aint going to do that its Suank all the way. Still reckon he won't even appear on the ballot paper just wanted to show up for his own personal vanity to be sentre of attention for a few days.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

BBC reporting that Sunak and Johnson have held talks. With most people it would be fairly obvious that Johnson was trying to do a deal wherein he recommends that everybody support Sunak, in return for which he gets a plum. However, one can never be sure what Johnson is up to and, even if he is making a deal, whether he would keep to it if he reckoned that he had the 100 nominations.

Johnson sticking to his word. Now there's a thought I wasn't expecting in my head this late on a Saturday. I'll give it a shake before hitting the pillow.

 

[Russel]

Given the UK has already become a laughing stock, I hope if Boris is chosen, he celebrates by hosting the mother of all parties in the garden of No 10, just for old times sake...

 

[WatcherZero]

Not sure what top cabinet post you could give Boris.

Foreign Secretary: A man who continually puts his foot in it and shoots from the cuff, his run in the role under May was considered a disaster
Defence Secretary: Ben Wallace is the undisputed best man for the job
Home Secretary: A man who broke his own laws
Chancellor: Your having a laugh
Levelling Up Minister: Might do alright in this but would it be high profile enough for him?
Leader of the House: In charge of party discipline?
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster? Gets to hobknob with the Royals and preside over official functions, but despite his public school background not sure thats really his thing.
Maybe chairman of the Conservative Party would please the rank and file membership and he could see it as a way to rebuild his powerbase

I get the feeling if he did get a cabinet post he would **** it up and have to resign very quickly, and you still have the standards investigation due in a couple of month, the rumour of which is its going to come down very hard and recommend a long suspension leading to the possibility of a recall vote.

 

[birchesgreen]

Surely his "price" would be Sunak making that naughty investigation go away.

 

[kermit]

The way the press are writing it seems to assume Boris has been offering Rishi a role, rather than the other way round. Still hoping Boris stalls at 99!

 

[nlogax]

The way the press are writing it seems to assume Boris has been offering Rishi a role, rather than the other way round. Still hoping Boris stalls at 99!

The way the press are writing is half the problem. Many papers seem to have a weird obsession with him in spite of his less than stellar track record.

 

[birchesgreen]

The way the press are writing is half the problem. Many papers seem to have a weird obsession with him in spite of his less than stellar track record.

Not really, he must be a political hack's dream, the articles practically write themselves. They must dread the prospect of PM Starmer, they might to actually have to do some work then!

 

[nlogax]

Not really, he must be a political hack's dream, the articles practically write themselves. They must dread the prospect of PM Starmer, they might to actually have to do some work then!

There is a weird push or enthusiasm for his return in certain corners of the press though. Not helped by certain high profile online commentators puffing up his alleged nomination count, none of whom seem to acknowledge that were Johnson to get back in his shelf life as MP for Uxbridge and therefore as PM is likely to be substantially shortened by the outcome of the Privileges Committee investigation.

It’s all popcorn-worthy for hacks but the entire country will continue to suffer while the circus continues to swap out its top closings.

 

[birchesgreen]

I wonder if some commentators are bigging up Johnson in order to scare MPs into voting for Sunak instead?

 

[kermit]

There is a weird push or enthusiasm for his return in certain corners of the press though. Not helped by certain high profile online commentators puffing up his alleged nomination count, none of whom seem to acknowledge that were Johnson to get back in his shelf life as MP for Uxbridge and therefore as PM is likely to be substantially shortened by the outcome of the Privileges Committee investigation.

It’s all popcorn-worthy for hacks but the entire country will continue to suffer while the circus continues to swap out its top closings.

The weirdness isn't limited to the press, unfortunately. I know a few otherwise sensible people for whom their perception of BJ as a loveable moptop rogue completely overrides their judgement about his suitability to be PM. They see his misdeeds as trivial - the Privileges Committee investigation is a good example, where they will just shrug and say "well they all lie, don't they?".

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Surely his "price" would be Sunak making that naughty investigation go away.

That would be a sure-fire way of tainting a Sunak premiership with corruption...

Therefore, bring it on!

 

[philosopher]

The weirdness isn't limited to the press, unfortunately. I know a few otherwise sensible people for whom their perception of BJ as a loveable moptop rogue completely overrides their judgement about his suitability to be PM. They see his misdeeds as trivial - the Privileges Committee investigation is a good example, where they will just shrug and say "well they all lie, don't they?".

At this moment, the UK needs a PM who can stabilise things and convince the rest of the world and the markets that the UK is not a banana country.

Boris becoming PM would lead to yet more chaos and the UK becoming even more of a laughing stock!

 

[brad465]

The way the press are writing is half the problem. Many papers seem to have a weird obsession with him in spite of his less than stellar track record.

They love spectacle, and reality TV stars like Johnson provide plenty of it.

 

[DerekC]

Odds still moving towards Sunak:

Sunak: 9:2 on
Johnson: 9:2
Mordaunt: 22:1

 

[nw1]

At this point I think I agree. Johnson allies saying that he’s got over 100 backers smacks of populist puffery to me and I’d have thought that the majority of Tory MPs would rather this vote didn’t get anywhere near the membership this time (mainly due to the high potential of them sticking Johnson back in).

I can’t see anyone other than Sunak becoming PM next week now.
I guess he’ll try and steady the ship and hope that people forget about calling for an election. I just hope that people don’t forget about all of this…

Whoever wins will have to see the country though the winter. For a fiscal conservative like Sunak, who will doubtless please the IMF but make cuts in order to do so, that will not be good news - it will not make him popular with the public even if he believes he has to do this.

People might not try to call an election right now, but I suspect that people will clamour for one by the spring as I suspect all a Sunak premiership will offer people is Cameron-like "we're all in this together" nonsense, when the people at the top of society - like Cameron and Sunak - are blatantly not.

It's not just Johnson and Truss. It's the contemporary Tory Party as a whole. Almost the whole damned lot of them, to me, come across arrogant, pompous and act like they have a divine right to govern. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that the Conservative Party, more than any other entity, has caused the UK's international reputation to nose-dive. After what will be 13 years by next spring, it's high time they step aside.

 

[43096]

It's not just Johnson and Truss. It's the contemporary Tory Party as a whole. Almost the whole damned lot of them, to me, come across arrogant, pompous and act like they have a divine right to govern.

Much like the slimy Starmer.

 

[adrock1976]

The SNP got 45% of the vote in Scotland in 2019. I'm not sure why you're choosing to quote the % of MPs - which is obviously distorted by the FPTP electoral system, when the % of the vote is rather clearly the better measure of which party Scots wanted.



Eh? How are you defining 'the Government it voted for'. In 1997, 2001 and 2005, we got a Westminster Government that was voted for by a large plurality of Scots - which seems to me to be as close as you can reasonably get to 'the Government it voted for'.

The 1997, 2001, and 2005 was New labour, which was not new at all and most certainly not Labour.

Blair was a lighter version of Thatcher. After the result of the '97 election, Blair was live on TV against the backdrop of "New Labour New Britain", and his exact words (live on TV) were "I'm here to govern as New Labour".

As Bucks Fizz once sung - The camera never lies.

 

[nw1]

The 1997, 2001, and 2005 was New labour, which was not new at all and most certainly not Labour.

Blair was a lighter version of Thatcher. After the result of the '97 election, Blair was live on TV against the backdrop of "New Labour New Britain", and his exact words (live on TV) were "I'm here to govern as New Labour".

As Bucks Fizz once sung - The camera never lies.

Or more precisely, if I remember right: "we were elected as New Labour... we shall govern... as New Labour!"

Whatever, the days of New Labour were arguably far better than the imperious individuals that run the show now, whether that be Boris Nero Ionso, Elisabeta Trusia, or Risius Sunacius. While Blair was far from perfect, and messing around with Bush was a very bad decision indeed, there were real progressive steps made during the 1997 government - minimum wage, working hours limits, and access to the countryside for starters. You would never get such progressive measures introduced by a Tory government.