‘Badenoch Is a Thatcher for Our Times’: [Telegraph] Readers on Who Should Be the Next Tory Leader

THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph subscribers weigh in on who they think should take charge of the Conservative Party

Kemi Badenoch should be the next leader of the Conservative Party, 67pc of over 66,000 Telegraph readers say | Screenshot from The Telegraph
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick have made it to the final two in the Tory leadership contest after James Cleverly was eliminated from the race.

The result came as a surprise not only in Westminster, but also among readers of The Telegraph after Mr Cleverly came first in Tuesday’s vote.

Many readers were pleased with the result, believing it to be a hopeful sign that the party is moving in the right direction. » | Thursday, October 10, 2024

That the readers of the Telegraph are comparing Badenoch to Thatcher must be causing Thatcher to be turning in her grave! Ignore them Baroness Thatcher! They know not what they say! Requiescat in pace.

Clearly, the Tory Party is drawing its last few breaths. It is surely on its way to extinction. Extinction was the fate of the Whigs; it will soon be the fate of the Tories. Death is often preceded by a few movements here and there, but then the lights go out — forever. Thank you for the good times of yore.

This is the face of modern Britain. The minorities are seizing all power in the country. To get anywhere in politics in Britain today, you must be either black, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or someone from another ethnic group. The Conservative Party has gone all queer! It’s not a bit like it used to be. It used to be very proper and extremely staid. Funnily enough, though, it’s a queer party, but it has never had a queer leader. Not one that was out and openly queer anyway.

God only knows where the next leader after this one will come from. Nothing would surprise me. Maybe a future contender in the next leadership race will be an Eskimo. – © Mark Alexander

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to Face Off in Final Round of Tory Leadership Race

THE GUARDIAN: Penny Mordaunt knocked out in last day of voting by MPs as party members now prepare to pick PM

Liz Truss will face Rishi Sunak in the final round of the Conservative leadership, after a dramatic final day of voting by MPs which saw Penny Mordaunt knocked out of the race, having been second in every previous round.

The fifth and last vote by MPs saw Sunak, the former chancellor, top the poll easily on 137 votes. Truss, the foreign secretary, who had trailed Mordaunt throughout the previous rounds, took 113 votes, just ahead of Mordaunt’s 105.

Sunak and Truss will now go to the next stage of the contest, a vote by Tory party members, with the winner succeeding Boris Johnson as prime minister in early September. With video » | Peter Walker and Jessica Elgot | Wednesday, July 202,2022

The Conservative Leadership Race

All of the candidates running to lead the Conservative Party are lacklustre, boring, and clueless. They have shown me that they have absolutely no understanding of economics or geopolitics. If I were able to assess them I would give none of them a grade above C-.

Is this truly the best that the once proud Conservative Party has to offer? Can’t the Party do better than this? Has it been reduced to such mediocrity?

I am old enough to remember leaders in the Conservative Party who were not only sound and able, but formidable too. One could look up to them. One felt that one’s country was in good hands in their hands. Do any of these contenders make YOU feel that way?

Not one of the contenders to lead the Conservatives, and by extension this country, have shown me that he/she understands economics, and still less geopolitics. Not one of them! All they come out with are platitudes to mollify the old dears in the Home Counties and Shires.

This is NO WAY to run a modern country.

Penny Mordaunt is one of the few contenders who has any presence as a leader. But who is this woman really? What does she really stand for. Apart from being a devoted Brexiteer? And for me, that proves that she understands no economics at all!

Moreover, all the candidates have come up with the same ol’, same ol’ line of “cutting taxes”. The Conservatives have been peddling this poppycock since Maggie was in power. That was circa forty years ago! One would be forgiven for thinking that if the success of the economy rested solely on cutting taxes, then the British economy would be in the stratosphere by now! Flying high. We have had lots and lots of tax cuts in the past forty years. And what have they achieved? Our economy has never been in a direr state than it is today! Never in my lifetime have I had to read about people, families having to go to foodbanks to be able to put food on the table for their children. Never! When I was growing up, this phenomenon was unheard of. Homelessness was almost unheard of.

The fact of the matter is this: Nobody with an ounce of common sense and/or understanding of economics or geopolitics would have walked away from the largest single market in the world: The Single Market. Any economist that would advocate such a stupid, idiotic move would not be worthy of the nomenclature 'economist'. Walking away from a ready market of 500,000,000 plus consumers is not only a nonsense; it is economic suicide. And this from a party which prides itself on being the party of business! The business-friendly party. Go figure!

I heard not one word from the lips of these lacklustre, uninspiring ne'er-do-wells, our so-called potential leaders, potential prime ministers, that he/she would make any move to reverse the madness of Brexit. I therefore declare that they are all—ALL—unfit for the office they are aspiring to hold. Conservatives need to go back to the drawing board.

© Mark Alexander
Sunday, July 17, 2022

Tory MPs Hit Back at ‘Treacherous’ Rishi Sunak as Leadership Race Begins

THE GUARDIAN: Conservative MPs fear the race to replace Boris Johnson risks becoming a drawn-out, bitter battle

The race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister was already slipping into acrimony on Saturday as Conservative factions briefed against Rishi Sunak, the early favourite, while one senior MP called for “no hope” candidates to drop out.

With four candidates confirmed, but predictions that up to 15 could put themselves forward as the next Conservative leader, Tory MPs expressed concern at the potential timetable for the race, and the prospect of bitter infighting.

Sunak, the former chancellor, who entered the race on Friday evening with a slickly edited video campaign message posted on Twitter under the slogan “Ready for Rishi”, is viewed as one of the likely frontrunners.

But he has already faced criticism among fellow MPs for indicating he will focus more on fiscal prudence than immediate tax cuts, with his video taking aim at other candidates who may offer “comforting fairytales” rather than economic truths.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Johnson loyalist, said on Friday evening that he could not back Sunak, whose resignation as chancellor helped precipitate the loss of faith in the prime minister that led to him resigning as Tory leader on Thursday. » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Saturday, July 9, 2022