Could Rory Stewart be the Brexit Messiah?

[onalongsabbatical]

I may be suffering from delusions, but so far I like him and he seems to be talking sense and cutting through soooooooo much Tory bullshit. Why is he a Tory anyway? What do people think of him? More to the point perhaps, has he got a snowflake in hell's chance of becoming our PM? Disclosure - I am not and have never been any kind of Tory, I'd rather rip off my own eyelids slowly than vote on the right. However, we are, as they say, where we are. I think he's looking like our best 'way through'.

I like him too but he hasn't a chance. Boris or that clueless Esther McVey will get it and crash us out of Europe because they're "democrats" dontcha know 😩🙄.

Esther McVey is less intelligent than my goldfish - and I don't even have a goldfish. I mean, Boris is bad enough but the idea that the UK could find itself being led by her is beyond astonishing, how on earth could such a thing happen? I wouldn't give her the job of organising a chip shop (other analogies are available), let alone running a flipping country. Still, glad you like Rory. I've not lost the plot then?

No, only Leavers need apply.

I rather like him too despite him being a Tory . He comes across as intelligent, thoughtful and balanced so he's not got a cats chance in hell. He does claim to be pro brexit but that won't help.

Well you see Peregrina it's not one of the qualifications for the job that they must be a leaver. So sorry about that.

interesting thoughts, seen little of Rory Stewart so far, to be fair

That he's a Conservative who's drawn only grudging praise from someone who by her own admission would never vote Conservative is kind the answer here I feel. TBH I don't know a lot about him what I have seen I have some liking for but its a hell of a stretch from where he is to being PM, in my opinion.

In other news, Dear God, please not Ester McVey!

It is indeed a stretch to him being PM. Re sorting out Brexit he seems thoughtful and refuses to come out with simplistic slogans and solutions except that he's the only candidate, as far as I know, who is quite unequivocallly against no-deal. He's saying he'll set up a citizen's panel to thrash through the issues in the style of similar panels in the Irish republic re abortion etc. Which I've long thought would be a good idea but I did not expect any Tory candidate to agree with me, so I'm pleasantly surprised. Dare one hope? Could he do a John Major and take it unexpectedly?

He says (I paraphrase) he knows he's not much chance with his MPs at this point and that his tactic is to get the voting public behind him thus allowing him to say to MPs 'if you vote for me you'll likely be reelected'.

Not an unintelligent approach. Non tories really seem to like him

I like him I think but sadly he’s not got much chance

have you looked at his voting record?

How Rory Stewart voted on Foreign Policy and Defence #
Almost always voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas Show votes
4 votes for, 0 votes against, 3 absences, between 2010–2015
Voted against investigations into the Iraq war Show votes
0 votes for, 1 vote against, in 2016
Consistently voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system Show votes
5 votes for, 0 votes against, in 2016
Generally voted against more EU integration Show votes
29 votes for, 57 votes against, 9 absences, between 2011–2019
Generally voted for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU Show votes
6 votes for, 3 votes against, 1 absence, between 2011–2016
Generally voted against strengthening the Military Covenant Show votes
0 votes for, 2 votes against, 1 absence, between 2011–2012
Almost always voted against a right to remain for EU nationals already in living in the UK Show votes
0 votes for, 15 votes against, 3 absences, between 2016–2019
Generally voted against UK membership of the EU Show votes
3 votes for, 18 votes against, 3 absences, between 2016–2019
Consistently voted for military action against ISIL (Daesh) Show votes
3 votes for, 0 votes against, between 2014–2015
Share a screenshot of these votes: Share

Last updated: 9 April 2019

Generally voted for reducing housing benefit for social tenants deemed to have excess bedrooms (which Labour describe as the "bedroom tax") Show votes
11 votes for, 0 votes against, 7 absences, between 2012–2018
Consistently voted against raising welfare benefits at least in line with prices Show votes
0 votes for, 5 votes against, in 2013
Almost always voted against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability Show votes
0 votes for, 13 votes against, 2 absences, between 2011–2016
Almost always voted for making local councils responsible for helping those in financial need afford their council tax and reducing the amount spent on such support Show votes
3 votes for, 0 votes against, 1 absence, in 2012
Almost always voted for a reduction in spending on welfare benefits Show votes
47 votes for, 0 votes against, 7 absences, between 2012–2016
Generally voted against spending public money to create guaranteed jobs for young people who have spent a long time unemployed

he's just another self interested tory-don't be fooled

You would think so. He would certainly be a step to bringing both sides together. But the extremists and the ERG won't countenance an intelligent, fact based approach.
twitter.com/RupertMyers/status/1133966733486755840

Finally found that interview. Here: twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1133793232968663041?s=21

Yeah bigearrings, he's a Tory. It's a shame but needs to be to lead the Tory party. He's certainly the least-worst candidate. I really don't think he stands much chance.

I've just stuck £10 on him at 16:1. I reckon he's going to do a John Major... are on me if he wins it, folks!

The UK needs a 'comedy arse' to either get it out or in the EU. A bit of a 'bloodbath' will ensue so at that point Rory might be near the front of the 'get us out of the shit government'.
Whoever the next PM is, they probably won't last long as there is no one 'strong and stable' who has a cat in hell's chance until some 'bloodletting' has taken place. I can only trust that this is an expression and not reality.

I think Rory Stewart is by far the best candidate but it's a very very low bar.

He's not a nutter and/or stupid like most of the others but he doesn't have a long record of high profile cabinet positions - so we also have little to judge him on.

Bigearringsbigsmile thank you, it's helpful to have the sobering voices. I'll have a better look at all of that later (I'm recovering from illness and also just home from being away, started this thread because I'm just interested to see what people think, especially after seeing him on Sky's All Out Politics this morning, but I'm not sure how much real research/reading I can do today).

He's not a nutter... Yes, this is the best we can hope for right now, isn't it?

And even if it is Rory what does that change?

A moderate candidate would not be able to get any WA through parliament without a GE.

One of the better of a bad bunch.

He's another one who makes shit up to support his position. The only difference is that he does at least admit it when he gets caught.

BollocksToBrexit I have no knowledge of him having done this, what are examples?

He claimed 80% of the public supported the Brexit deal, turned out he pulled that figure out of his backside

Oh, ok.

It's a 'No' from me.

He's far too 'Remainery' and I don't like his idea of a Citizens' Assembly - which is bound to be 'politically correct' in its composition. Do you include EU citizens and 16-17 year olds as well?

And surely, a Citizens' Assembly will still have to hear 'evidence' from so-called 'impartial experts' - how will they be chosen? A Citizens' Assembly will only lead to a version of Remain.

Personally, I think Boris Johnson is much more centrist than some people think - he's probably still my first choice.