A “baldie” to succeed Boris as CON leader – previous ones haven’t done well
Is DefSec Wallace a good bet?
Having been bald myself since my mid-thirties I’ve always been conscious of suggestions that it could be a limiting factor in a political career.
In the very early days of PB the Tories were onto their second bald leader in succession – IDS . He replaced Hague after the GE2001 disaster for the party and became the only CON leader in modern times to be booted out before he had even faced a general election.
Back then this was a much-discussed issue though I guess the real problem for the Tories was that the incumbent LAB PM was Tony Blair.
I raise this now because one or two of the leading Tory commenters on the site have been talking up Ben Wallace as a possible successor to Johnson. He is one of the best communicators on the Tory front bench and is getting a lot of attention at the moment because of Ukraine.
He is a former army officer and, interestingly, a member of the Scottish Parliament to which he was elected in 1999. He stood down four years later to find a English seat and now holds Wyre Preston North with a 30%+ majority.
On Betfair he is currently the third favourite at about 8/1 for next CON leader alongside Tom Tugendhat who also has a military background. At the moment I am not tempted because it could be years before there is a leadership contest and the 8/1 odds are not long enough.
Churchill was, of course bald, and led his party to defeat in 1945 and at GE1950. He won GE1951 but stood down before GE1955.