You can only conclude that some politicians are simply untreatable. Their egotism and self-delusion so deeply engrained that reality never gets a look-in. I give you Robert Jenrick. Exhibit A. He is a worthy successor to Liz Truss as one of the dimmest solipsists you could hope to meet.
After trailing in a distant second in last week’s televised Q&A, you’d have thought Honest Bob might have taken a day or two to regroup. After all, if the most Tory-friendly audience imaginable at GB News doesn’t much like you then most people would reasonably conclude they had a problem. If you can’t connect with the few remaining diehard Tory members, then your chances of appealing to the rest of the country are vanishingly small.