Who will put Humpty Dumpty Tories back together after all this vitriol? JASON GROVES Analyzes Party’s Hopes for Unity
After two rounds of the Tory leadership contest, it’s already clear that whoever ultimately wins will face a huge challenge to put Humpty Dumpty back together.
The Tory party is badly divided and the division is getting more bitter by the day.
Yesterday’s result didn’t really change the dial in terms of the overall competition, but the debate got even more heated.
Rishi Sunak remains on track to make it to the final two, but isn’t sure yet. rebellious candidate Penny Mordaunt kept making ground but couldn’t shake off Liz Truss‘s terrier-style campaign.
And there are things said by senior Tories about their peers that cannot be left unspoken. Tom Tugendhat, whose centrist campaign seemed to falter yesterday, has described it as a “knife fight in a phone booth.” Even those that survive will come out bloodied.
The insults flew free. Lord Frost, who was on hand last night to support Miss Truss, began the day with the boot in Miss Mordaunt, who served as his Undersecretary.
Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch are the other five candidates for Tory leadership
In the second round, Rishi Sunak received 101 votes and Penny Mordaunt 83 – 16 added to her previous count – after another crazy day in Westminster where Secretary of State Liz Truss called on the party’s right wing to rally behind her
Secretary of State Liz Truss officially launched her campaign this morning, calling on the Tories to rally behind her.
She was, he said, not strong enough to become prime minister and tended to get confused. In the end, he had to ask Boris Johnson to continue with her.
Mr. Sunak’s team has suggested that those like Miss Truss, who propose major tax cuts, are economically illiterate.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he would not serve Mr Sunak because of his “infidelity.” Off the record, allies of Mr Johnson have called the former chancellor a “treacherous b*****d.”
Suella Braverman said Miss Mordaunt was too awake to ever win her support, and took a swipe at Miss Truss by saying that the fact that she voted for Remain six years ago still cast a shadow over her suitability for the top job.
She later made amends when sources said she would give her support to the Foreign Seretary.
For their part, Miss Truss’ allies have previously labeled Ms. Braverman and her supporters “idiots” after the Attorney General refused to step out of the contest yesterday morning, despite the fact that they were clearly destined for the fight.
Ms Mordaunt’s scrutiny is understandable – even necessary – given her meteoric rise from unknown minister to favorite to become Britain’s next prime minister.
But the broader power struggle threatens to become endemic. In his final days, Johnson warned disgruntled ministers that the Conservative Party was becoming ‘ungovernable’.
Even with his huge electoral mandate and mammoth personality, he couldn’t keep things together in the end. There is now a real danger of the party disintegrating under a new leader.
And Labor will be there to help every step of the way. A senior member of Keir Starmer’s team cheerfully announced yesterday that the party has already started a file recording every blue-on-blue attack.
Any insult thrown now will be thrown back at the new leader in September. And every wound will be inflicted by himself.