I am loathe to make predictions in this batshit era British politics is currently travelling through, so do not take what I am about to say as such. I have no idea who will follow Theresa May as Conservative Party leader, I really don’t; I just think (and have had this confirmed by some in Westminster) the following contender is a genuine possibility.
The Tories were shaken by the result of the general election and are looking for someone of genuine prime ministerial quality for when next a general election comes around. And the man many are now pinning their Tory hopes on is……Jo Johnson.
Yes, Boris’ brother. He may not be quite as witty a public speaker as his sibling, but he is still very good. At least, he’s a lot better than Theresa May (I realise that’s a low bar to jump, but still). He is much more serious minded than Boris (again, low bars and all that) and actually has a very decent policy brain on him, which would mark his leadership, should he succeed, as a serious change in that respect from……every leader they’ve had since Hague.
I kind of hope this possibility comes to a head mostly because it would be nice to see what the Tory version of the Miliband spat looks like, with the less famous, less favoured brother winning out in the end. I know, I know, that didn’t work out so well for Labour, but Jo Johnson is no Ed Miliband. And the Tories aren’t Labour, but that’s so obvious a point it shouldn’t need to be made.
What are JoJo’s thoughts on Europe? This Ted talk should give you a flavour (the best bit for those of you who wish to skim, is around the 8:30 mark where he talks about bendy banana related myths) – on the basis of this one video, it’s clear that he knows more about the European Union than any member of the current cabinet.
For those of you who either think all Tories are mostly the same, and don’t care who is the leader of them for that reason, I only ask you to consider this: if the Conservatives are going to be in power anyhow, wouldn’t it be better that their leader was a chap who actually knew what he was talking about instead of making it up as he went along? Wouldn’t it be better to have someone leading either the Brexit or post-Brexit process who had some real idea of how the EU actually functions? I could end up being wrong about this, but I find it hard to see JoJo trying to woo UKIP voters with abandon a la May. I think he might be worth a crack, seeing as everyone else clearly isn’t up to it.
Most Tories say, “too young, too soon” in regards to JoJo. But perhaps that is what they actually need a bit of right now.
To win now he has to be firmly in the Brexit camp. Is he prepared to do that?
Brexit is an orphan. Labour, if it’s smart, should let the Tories own it and suffer the electoral consequences.
I suspect that Tories have made a similar calculation in that they’d rather see Theresa May own it. This means no election or leadership challenge for quite a while.