At the end of November Philip Thompson had a guest slot here suggesting that the MP who who took over William Hague’s old seat at Richmond in Yorkshire was a good bet to be the next PM.

I was one of many PBers who got on at that price with Ladbrokes and have a clear financial interest in Sunak’s future,

Well the big news from the reshuffle is that Javid was not ready to accept the terms for him to remain as Chancellor and the job has been given to Sunak. This surely puts him in strong position to succeed Boris as PM whenever he steps down. This is what Philip wrote on November 29th 2019:

Currently listed at 200/1 with Ladbrokes is Rishi Sunak. A supporter of Johnson he has repeatedly appeared on the media to argue the government’s line, after the newly elected PM culled the Cabinet and promoted Sunak he argued unequivocally that Johnson was being “decisive”. During the election campaign Sunak has been used frequently on media appearances, appearing on GMB, Sky, BBC etc. Already promoted once by Johnson to Chief Secretary of the Treasury, while not yet in the Cabinet he does attend it. Sunak has been earmarked by Boris to represent the Conservative Party in the 7-way debate and is already tipped to get a full Cabinet portfolio in the future.

Clearly it could be some time before Boris moves on but the bet becomes much more valuable after this morning’s news.

Mike Smithson