[Andy McDandy]

Surprising to me that Sunak hasn't done more big speeches on tech if he's so on top of it. Tech by its very nature is positive sounding and would be growing even if Lee Anderson were Prime Minister. Are his advisers worried he'd sound too much like Will out of the Inbetweeners? If so, why make him PM?

Older, thicker C2DEs who think their phones are a bit magic. Hacks who love to bask in the reflected hardness of "real men" doing heavy lifting. They're who he's trying to impress.

[Tubby Isaacs]

He seems to be, but he's the worst possible choice for that, just like he doesn't sound like his heart is in culture war.

Actually, I wonder if tech to lots of people means "coming for our jobs"? Is that why?

[Youngian]

Looks like an Alan Partridge charm offensive with the farmers.

[mattomac]

Surprising to me that Sunak hasn't done more big speeches on tech if he's so on top of it. Tech by its very nature is positive sounding and would be growing even if Lee Anderson were Prime Minister. Are his advisers worried he'd sound too much like Will out of the Inbetweeners? If so, why make him PM?

Older, thicker C2DEs who think their phones are a bit magic. Hacks who love to bask in the reflected hardness of "real men" doing heavy lifting. They're who he's trying to impress.

Key line in all this is “if he is on top of this”.

He isn’t, if he had been he wouldn’t have gone near crypto especially when it was hitting choppy waters.

His tech knowledge probably extends to briefings. The guy just isn’t very good, you can’t create a PM from any backbench Mp. His level in any normal Conservative administration would probably be Junior minister currently. It’s the same reason why the Tories will shift to the right they will claim Sunak was moderate and liberal but he really isn’t.

[Youngian]

Governments regulating cryptocurrency will give legitimacy to the next scammer appearing on the cover of Forbes as a business genius before losing millions in investor money. Trade in crypto it’s your gain or loss, should be a government’s final word on the subject.

[Crabcakes]

The narrative is being written as we speak. The three months leading up to lockdown, when we squandered weeks of notice and a 21 mile natural barrier on the grounds that Johnson needed some time off, have been forgotten. This man almost died for us, got the big calls right, rolled out the vaccine personally and it would all have blown over by winter 2020 were it not for Eat Out to Help Out and the Christmas lifting of restrictions. And we all know which little darkie fellow was responsible for them.

The interesting thing is, though this is true just now and I’m sure Johnson is loving it, he’s also forgetting - because while he’s a journalist at heart, he’s also a shit lazy one - that nothing makes a corruption story more interesting than having it spread and having multiple villains.

Very soon, if not already, senior Tories behind the scenes will realise any hope of a future comeback will be pinned to a scorched earth policy to draw a line between the party then and now. And that means if Sunak goes down for Eat Out to Help Out then Johnson has to go down for his laziness, indecisiveness at not wanting to be the bearer of bad news until there was no choice, and glacially slow reactions. The next Tory leader to actually have a chance (and by that I mean probably the leader after the leader that follows Sunak) will have to be completely clean and clear of the whiff of Covid shenanigans. Who that is I have no clue, but if Boris thinks he’s got away with attempting to shift the blame I suspect he’ll be surprised yet not delighted to shortly step on a petard with ‘property of A. Johnson’ etched on it.

[Bones McCoy]

They've not helped themselves by XXXhavingXXX lacking a supply of honest backbenchers who can step up.

The massive cabinet have ruined their reputations batting for a series of hopeless or dishonest leaders.

Most of the backbenchers have aligned with one cult or another, whether ERG "More extremer Brexit now!!", spent years clowning as culture war twitter thugs, have dirty hands fomr the PPE VIP lane, or previously nailed their colours to utterly failed leaders.

So where do they find the next leader?
Stick the defibbrilator on some fossil in the Lords.
Or wait till Wilf (The 6th to 9th Johnson offspring M'Lud) reaches an electable age.

[Andy McDandy]

They'll send the kid back to the agency as soon as they don't need him any more.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yep. Even when Mrs Thatcher had big majorities, there was a talent pool of backbenchers who could step up to being junior ministers, do the job quietly and maybe get promoted slowly or just step down after a few years. Sunak reminds me of those people.

[mattomac]

Hunt is probably the one I could think of that could help the party. They will shift rightwards mind first.

I assume Penny Mordaunt wouldn’t be the worst but there are concerns on her seat.

They may have to go through the Braverman bloodletting before they get to an awakening.

[davidjay]

The identity and quality of the next leader depends on the result of the election. If they get the battering they deserve no-one of any quality will stand so you're looking at a Dorres or even Braverman. if they can pull back Labour to a 20-30 seat majority the Big Beasts will fancy their chances. Not that there are all that many of them left.

[Youngian]

Tobias Ellwood’s seat looks shaky but he’s broken ranks on Brexit and mugged Johnson over defence on a select committee. On the current trajectory Tory support is going to die, is not even a profound observation

[Tubby Isaacs]

Oh dear, oh dear.

Sunak doesn't have to accept this, and lots of headbangers will be on his case if he does. How's Dowden's enquiry going? Still going or too busy interfering with the Covid enquiry? I see he didn't show up for questions on this yesterday, and sent Jeremy Quinn.

[Crabcakes]

Hunt is probably the one I could think of that could help the party. They will shift rightwards mind first.

I assume Penny Mordaunt wouldn’t be the worst but there are concerns on her seat.

They may have to go through the Braverman bloodletting before they get to an awakening.

Given how bad things got under Truss, you have to wonder if the inevitable flirting with fascism-laced ocean-going incompetence that would be a Braverman-led party would have anyone remotely approaching human left after another GE (assuming she’d be allowed to lead long enough to contest one).

[Andy McDandy]

As UKIP, Reform, Brexit Party, Reclaim etc have shown, there is a significant far right chunk of the electorate out there, which used to either vote BNP/NF, or Tory (even if the Tories were a bit too wet for them). Or abstain, and get ignored by parliament, which in its way fuelled the rise of UKIP etc. Smart suits and polished rhetoric, bit more socially acceptable in the golf club than a BNP skinhead with prison tattoos.

If the Tories continue to lurch rightward, that's who they'll be consolidating. I heard rumours of them rebranding as the Patriot Party a while back. I'd not put it past them. How they'll reconcile the absolute libertarians and the social control freaks is anyone's guess - probably by the old Tory standard of strict rules for other people. Meanwhile, unless we see a LD revival (not impossible - most of those who were part of the coalition are out of the game now, and they're playing up their socially liberal and world citizen angles) taking over the centre ground, it'll be Labour's to take - all that one nation not-that-bad-really centrist Tory territory. The Trots will huff and moan, but they'll do that anyway.

Alternative to the Patriot Party- the English National Party or somesuch and they give up on the union.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Time for "Rishi does the polls". This sounds like an absolute hammering on the back of tactical voting.

"Still all to play for, Prime Minister"

[mattomac]

Hunt is probably the one I could think of that could help the party. They will shift rightwards mind first.

I assume Penny Mordaunt wouldn’t be the worst but there are concerns on her seat.

They may have to go through the Braverman bloodletting before they get to an awakening.

Given how bad things got under Truss, you have to wonder if the inevitable flirting with fascism-laced ocean-going incompetence that would be a Braverman-led party would have anyone remotely approaching human left after another GE (assuming she’d be allowed to lead long enough to contest one).

You forget the membership decides.

I had a look at some of the horrible lot and they seem to retain high majorities.

[Crabcakes]

“How are the polls after my Prime Ministerial visit to see President Biden?”

“Well…plenty of room for growth, Prime Minister. We know you love growth. Oh, and the boundary changes are definitely having *an* effect…”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... boundaries

[mattomac]

Much in line with the other polls.

The analysis bar Curtice is rather poor in my view, a party doesn’t win 400 seats by default.

Best hope is some of the undecided voters turn up we’ve seen them sit out in the past, the switch to Labour already is enough.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Starmer doesn't have great personal ratings compared with Blair and Cameron in the same position, but maybe we're generally more sceptical of politicians. Sunak is doing worse than Cameron too, and worse than Starmer.

If you're winning by default you're at least tightening up a lot on defence.