Interesting piece for the Mail on Sunday.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8443851/amp/DAN-HODGES-Watch-Boris-Tory-MPs-starting-think-unthinkable.html?ito=amp_twitter_share-top&__twitter_impression=true
DAN HODGES: Watch out Boris, some Tory MPs are starting to think the unthinkable
I have already had two people come up to me today and separately say “I think Boris may have to go”,’ one Tory MP told me last week.
‘There’s no way you would have been hearing that even last month.
It’s just one sign that some Conservative politicians are starting to think the unthinkable. In another exchange, a Minister said: ‘It’s all gone for a ball of chalk.’
And
The impression among Conservative MPs is that the Prime Minister has lost his grip, and the Government has lost its way. And incredibly, less than a year into his premiership, some are starting to seriously consider whether Boris Johnson may have to be replaced.
‘It’s been difficult for people to get organised because everyone’s been scattered round the country,’ one MP explains. ‘But the conversations are taking place now. There’s a feeling the basic level of competence isn’t there in No 10.’
And
What’s also worrying Tory MPs is a suspicion that the mayhem of the past week may not be an aberration, but a return to normality. Boris’s stunning Election triumph has obscured the fact that retreats and confused and messy compromises were features of the early days of his administration.
As one Minister says: ‘Boris and Cummings are great at campaigning but rubbish at governing. They’re like one-club golfers. Everything has to be framed as part of the culture war.’
Another believes there’s a problem with just how effective his inner circle are at keeping Boris up to speed with events and issues as they’re unfolding. ‘There are a number of times I’ve been in meetings with him and I’ve been surprised at the way he didn’t seem to have a feel for what was driving the agenda. Not so much a lack of a grasp of the detail, more the way an issue is playing out.’
And
On Monday, Britain’s high streets reopened for the first time in three months. Boris chose to mark the moment by writing an article about statues.
When he and his Ministers should have been channelling all their energies into getting the nation back to work, he instead decided to spend a couple of hours in the House of Commons announcing the ‘merger’ of the Foreign Office and Department for International Development.
In the week when British scientists made the first major breakthrough in defeating Covid-19, No 10 thought this was the moment to announce they had spent £900,000 on painting a Union Jack on the Prime Minister’s plane.
As one senior Tory told me: ‘Experienced MPs from all wings of the party are worried about the No 10 bunker being out of touch. And blue collar and One Nation Tories are all worried by the lack of feel for bread-and-butter doorstep issues.’
And
But some Conservative MPs don’t think that necessarily means Boris is in it for the long haul.
‘He’s not a politician, he’s a brand,’ one Minister told me, ‘and one day he’ll just walk. People say Carrie [Symonds] will keep him in line. But you watch. He’ll just get up one morning and take the brand somewhere else.’
Amazing.
Don't you just love the Tory Party?
Never a dull moment. Just a bunch of bastards with the knives out.
Though why any of this comes as a surprise to them is quite funny.