to think that Rory Stewart is the only normal contender

[Pointless2]

So we have the final 10 - from tainted, via awful, to frankly terrifying. The only person who seems different is Rory Stewart, though there are a lot of his policies I don’t yet know about. At least he is seeking some kind of consensus though, and doesn’t sound, frankly, as stupid as some of the others.

Don’t know though - none of it feels good. How is it all going to play out?

I agree - best of a howling-mad bunch. I was in a meeting the other day with some v bright people whose opinion I respect and they thought he was good too (I like to consider others opinions - its what makes MN so fascinating also). One of them had been to hear RS talk (speakers corner?) and apparently he spoke brilliantly - fluent, coherent, clever and.......answered the questions honestly which, you have to agree is a bloody marvel in the modern day politician!!

Didn't take you long today unicorn. Acid drops for breakfast. Thoroughly uncalled for and deeply unpleasant, as expected.

I'll be honest, I just think we haven't seen his negative side yet.

He was on QT the other week and seemed to come off quite well ....

Unfortunately it isn’t going to happen for him ... but wish he was

He seems an intelligent, decent and honourable man, therefore he has nil chance of leading the Conservative party.

Agree!

Sadly he hasn’t got enough MP backers to get much further. I think he’s got a seriously good CV and would be a good PM, despite not agreeing with all his policies.
The MPs seem to be going with Mr Popular, presumably to get jobs if he gets in. His previous colleagues have already said he’s more of a figurehead than someone who actively manages...oh great. His bluster and lack of scruples will match the orange one well, when we should be trying to find someone who can work with actual peers, such as Trudeau, Merkel and Macron. Rory would be great at that.

I don’t think he’ll win, unfortunately, but he is very likeable. He comes across as a very nice, decent chap.

Almost always voted against a right to remain for EU nationals already in living in the UK

Almost always voted against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability

Generally voted for reducing housing benefit for social tenants deemed to have excess bedrooms (which Labour describe as the "bedroom tax")

Almost always voted against increasing the tax rate applied to income over £150,000

Consistently voted for ending financial support for some 16-19 year olds in training and further education

Consistently voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities

Generally voted against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas

Generally voted for restricting the scope of legal aid

Consistently voted against restrictions on fees charged to tenants by letting agents

Very nice and decent

Everything is relative.

I agree he's probably best of a bad bunch. Would certainly prefer him over Gove, Hunt and Boris.

Still an Eton, Oxford educated, right wing view, out of touch individual though.

He's an old fashioned one nation Tory and that's totally out of kilter with the rank and file Tory membership. Plus although he's socially liberal- at the end of the day he's part of a minority elect of public school white men- so he doesn't stand for my values.

Just as an aside I saw a comment from an old colleague of mine on facebook last week who sat behind him on the train on Friday afternoon and commented that he smelt like a Gregs beef pastie. It was a warm day though

I've heard him speak in the past, before he became an MP. Very articulate and bright, and actually has some life experience outside of the London/professional politician/PR/journo bubble. Yes, he's still an old fashioned Tory and not my political cup of tea, but he's definitely the best of the bunch.

Agree he won't win, but whichever clown does could do a lot worse than appointing him foreign secretary

Agree that he's the only one who doesn't send a horrified burst of cortisol jolting through my system. I'm hardly the Tory heartland though, so the things I like are probably the things that will disqualify him.

I absolutely love Rory Stewart, he seems like a really nice likeable man. And say what you will about him, there's no doubt he's had a real job prior to becoming an MP!

My money is on Javid though, partly because I read he met his wife while sharing a stapler.

I clicked on this thread to see if anyone mentioned the extreme man spreading on TV last night. I wondered what a body language expert would make of that!

Previously, when I've seen him on QT I've always thought he came across measured and sensible compared to the rest of the panel, however, after having seen a lot more of him recently, I fear he'll spend too long 'negotiating' at the expense of being decisive.
I'm really not liking all this baring of souls they're all doing.

Agree he won't win, but whichever clown does could do a lot worse than appointing him foreign secretary

I totally agree with this.

He was on the news yesterday - man spreading wasn't the word.

Apparently, I'm not the only one. google "rory stewart manspreading"

@StayAChild

yep - just posted about it, too

He’s a chump. He has no plan on extricating the country from the Brexit shambles. He was Prisons minister at Christmas and foolishly (from a politics POV) that he’d reform prisons within a year or resign - an urgent exit was required so now he’s at International Development.

He’s an ivory tower kind of chap. He complained loudly about the EU’s unnecessary red tape (rules on who can undertaking services of car air conditioning) seemingly unaware that there have been two very serious outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease in Cumbria where he is an MP.

He also makes TV series about pet projects which have been widely debunked by actual historians.

He’s the ‘harmless’ anachronistic toff that Brits seem to enjoy. Like Farage and Boris. He is not nearly as able as he thinks he is, but his privileged background makes him immune to real insight into his abilities or lack thereof.

I despise him. But then I’m very much a curse on all Tory’s houses kind of girl.

At least he is seeking some kind of consensus though

Trouble is that there is no consensus, hence the mess that May created.

I wasn't keen on his voting record.

www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24964/rory_stewart/penrith_and_the_border/votes

His Brexit stance rules him out of MPs voting for him and certainly the tory membership voting for him.

But I think he knows this. I think he is standing now to give himself a better chance next time by raising his profile.

The final two will be Boris and Hunt, and the membership will choose Boris. If by some miracle MPs don't vote for Boris in the final two it will be Hunt and Gove and Hunt will get it.

I think he's really creepy.

I think he seems a really decent, intelligent, articulate man.

I think the reason Boris is assumed to be the one with the most chance now is because the Tory party haven't a bloody clue what the electorate want after Brexit. That confounded them. They think they need a popular leader, someone who'll make everyone laugh, the type who'd insult foreign leaders and shag everyone in sight. They don't seem to realise that if they don't appoint a decent leader now they have no chance of survival.

Jesus, I need to sleep more. I read this as Rod Stewart

Me too, and I'm not remotely sleep deprived!!!