PM for PM
Both the Telegraph and the Mail are reporting on a plan to install Penny Mordaunt as Prime Minister which has at least underlying logic behind it. As we can see from the latest Ashcroft polling she’s the only Tory who is seen as net asset rather than a net liability.
Those deluded* Boris Johnson fans, yes I am looking at the likes of you Nadine Dorries and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who thought he could make a comeback before the election can see their hero is doing rather badly on the net liability front, even worse than the Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton which must sting for Boris Johnson. This is even before we come to the problem of Boris Johnson of not being a MP.
I am a fan of Penny Mordaunt, she has impeccable judgment, such as following me on Twitter, and what’s not to love about a politician who can deliver speeches like this to the Commons? She does human in a way Sunak or most other politicians cannot.
I thought the Tories wouldn’t be stupid enough to impose a third consecutive mandateless Prime Minister this parliament but I think the polling might just persuade them to do so.
At the time of writing, which was circa 8 am today, you can get 4/1 with Ladbrokes on Rishi Sunak not to be Tory leader at the election (and 1/7 on the other side of that market), you can get 3/1 and 1/4 respectively on Betfair, I think there could be a smidgen of value on the 4/1.
TSE
*Other more robust adjectives are available