The Conservative party is in danger of reducing politics to a prank on the public. In the course of the next seven days, Britain will have a new Tory prime minister – the third in two months. The favourite to take over is Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor. His main rival among cabinet ministers is Penny Mordaunt. However, the contest is in danger of being surrendered to the spectacle of Boris Johnson jetting back from his Caribbean holiday. Voters are more likely to be repelled than amused by the return of the clown to the political circus.
Mr Johnson is not the solution to the Tories’ woes – he is the prime cause of them. When he left office in July, he was only a smidgen less unpopular than Liz Truss. His administration was marked by incompetence, lies and U-turns. He had been fined for law-breaking Covid parties, earning the distinction of being the first serving prime minister to be sanctioned by the police. He may even lose his seat if he is found guilty of misleading parliament over the Downing Street gatherings.
