[Youngian]

Kinnock seen as a waffling wally not up to the job was Major’s trump card. Wrongly in my view but electoral politics is a shitty business.

[Tubby Isaacs]

"Ask me about the issues", says details man, Rishi.

[satnav]

This is the problem for the Tories, they like to talk about tackling crime and stopping the marches in London but if the prisons are full there is sod all they can do about these things,

[Andy McDandy]

Tories going "tough on crime" means:

1. Plod giving the usual suspects a bit of rough justice.

2. Chuck what's left in a cell and forget it.

[Watchman]

“Tough on crime”….unless it’s one of our own

[mattomac]

Latest class reason why they may win is doing the rounds is one Tory MP has suggested waiting for the Euros and the Olympics, success there and apparently the country will look quite different.

[Bones McCoy]

“Tough on crime”….unless it’s one of our own

When it's one of their own it's "youthful* high jinks" not crime at all, oh no, completely different.

* Even when the then octogenarian Rupert Murdoch was the miscreant.

[slilley]

This government really does seem to be lurching from one mess up to another to another. Very much in the dog days of the Major administration. No matter what policy they come up with the polls don’t move, every few days there is some government minister wheeled out on the breakfast round to try to damp down this mishap or that. Macmillan talked about “events dear boy events”. How right he was.

Simon

[Crabcakes]

Latest class reason why they may win is doing the rounds is one Tory MP has suggested waiting for the Euros and the Olympics, success there and apparently the country will look quite different.

Yes, I’m sure Sunak sweeping in with an England shirt with the price tag still on it will really win round people who can’t afford their mortgage, and convince those on the receiving end of racist abuse that the rhetoric he supports has increased that the Tories are all nice folk really.

[Andy McDandy]

Any Tories spotted in Paris will be for it - not so easy or cheap for the rest of us to just pop over nowadays. And what if a popular athlete says something provocative during an interview?

[Crabcakes]

Any Tories spotted in Paris will be for it - not so easy or cheap for the rest of us to just pop over nowadays. And what if a popular athlete says something provocative during an interview?

Also, many top U.K. athletes and footballers are inconveniently (for them) the children of immigrants.

[Youngian]

Any empirical data that a feel good factor stemming from a national sporting win can propel a government back in power? Even Darling Harold winning a GE on the back of the World Cup is probably a myth written by Johnny Speight for Alf Garnet to spout.

[Oboogie]

Graham Brady called Sunak in for a private* meeting yesterday.
Now what could that possibly be about?
It's obviously serious as it took precedent over responding to the Hester story yesterday.
I can think of no explanation other than it was to update him of the state of play with the leadership challenge.
My conclusion is that either the number of letters has been reached or it's getting close.
This leaves Sunak with three choices: resign, fight it and almost certainly lose, or call an election.
If I were him I'd go for an early election on the grounds that the humiliation of being booted out by his own party after only 18 months would be even greater than being defeated by Starmer at a GE.
I think that'd suit his Tory detractors too, remember he's their scapegoat for after the election.
Whichever option he chooses, Sunak leading the party into an Autumn election seems increasingly unlikely.

*private as in just the two of them, nobody there to leak it.

[davidjay]

Any empirical data that a feel good factor stemming from a national sporting win can propel a government back in power? Even Darling Harold winning a GE on the back of the World Cup is probably a myth written by Johnny Speight for Alf Garnet to spout.

The election was three months before the final.

[Andy McDandy]

I've also seen that one put down to a showing of Steptoe and Son being delayed.

[Oboogie]

I've also seen that one put down to a showing of Steptoe and Son being delayed.

At Wilson's request, or so I heard.

[Abernathy]

Did you know that an anagram of “Rishi Sunak” is “Hi risk anus “ ?

[satnav]

Graham Brady could have been warning Rishi that a number of Tory MPs are flirting with defecting to the Reform Party. If 20 MPs jumped ship Sunak would be in big trouble especially given how many MPs have already announced that they are not going to contest the next election. It will be very hard to inflict party discipline on MPs who are starting to get demob happy.

[Abernathy]

.

[Bones McCoy]

Graham Brady could have been warning Rishi that a number of Tory MPs are flirting with defecting to the Reform Party. If 20 MPs jumped ship Sunak would be in big trouble especially given how many MPs have already announced that they are not going to contest the next election. It will be very hard to inflict party discipline on MPs who are starting to get demob happy.

You know how frisky these public schoolboys get on the final day of term.