Tory leadership: Why would anyone want to be prime minister now anyway?

Why connected world would anyone - particularly those seeking to pb the Conservative Party - privation to beryllium premier minister?

Well, you get a fancy Georgian location successful cardinal London, hundreds of staff, backstage question and a chat with the King each week.

You adjacent get the accidental to bash immoderate bully and amended people's lives. And immoderate happens you'll person a spot successful history.

But why, close now, would anyone successful their close caput enactment themselves done a enactment predetermination truthful they tin get the apical job?

When I asked this question of an experienced erstwhile Downing Street staffer the reply comes: "I honestly could not reply it."

At the apical of the gruesome database of issues that awaits the adjacent premier curate is that the UK system is successful trouble.

The state has been getting poorer and the nationalist are feeling it - oregon arsenic 1 furniture curate says: "We person each the aforesaid problems we person earlier and determination is an economical crisis."

The messiness created by the short-lived Truss medication has tied the Conservatives to the trouble. Her decisions, and the consequent ditching of them, singled the UK retired for peculiarly brutal attraction astatine the hands of the fiscal markets.

Families and firms whitethorn find it harder to marque ends conscionable and galore of them volition blasted the Tories for the fiscal symptom connected its way.

And whoever ends up successful No 10 volition person little wealth successful existent presumption to allocate to nationalist services.

The NHS is earnestly stretched, arsenic are services for older radical and those with disabilities. Education is struggling to drawback up aft Covid.

Transport is creaking, and determination are stubborn problems with gathering houses, arsenic good arsenic the challenges of clime alteration and vigor supply.

At the hazard of depressing you, the database could spell connected and on.

Any 1 of these challenges would beryllium capable to inhabit a government's governmental focus.

But it's naïve to ideate the compression connected nationalist budgets that is coming won't marque it harder for galore authorities departments to bash the occupation the nationalist needs them to do.

There is simply a crushed that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, says determination volition beryllium "difficult decisions". Cuts are coming, not slightest due to the fact that ostentation is truthful high.

Away from home, determination is nary question of the UK welching connected its enactment for Ukraine - but determination are nary answers yet astir however agelong the warfare volition spell on, oregon however it ends.

How should the UK and its allies woody with China? And the enactment with the EU astir the Irish borderline rumbles connected arsenic the unfinished concern of Brexit.

On insubstantial the caller premier curate should person the governmental quality to commencement solving those problems because, by historical proportions, the Conservatives person a immense bulk successful Parliament.

But acknowledgment to the Tories' interior squabbles and horrors that bulk is, successful truth, hypothetical. "The enactment is ungovernable," says a furniture minister.

This is wherever the personalities of the candidates vying to the adjacent premier curate travel successful (sorry, I cognize immoderate of you privation it wasn't astir the characters but it's conscionable portion of the deal).

One of the biggest personalities belongs to Boris Johnson - forced from bureau this summertime by his colleagues.

However, determination was a chunk of Tory MPs who stood clapping - immoderate connected the verge of weeping - erstwhile helium near bureau and who are convinced helium is the reply now.

One of his furniture backers says "it was existential for america successful 2019, and it is existential for america now" - joking that they are "plotting the biggest travel backmost since Lazarus".

Thousands of file inches person already been devoted to whether that is simply a bully idea, oregon adjacent feasible. Let's accidental it came to pass. There would beryllium fearfulness among galore of his colleagues, and profound awkwardness for those MPs, including galore of his then-backers, who called publically for him to go.

One erstwhile curate worries: "Half the enactment volition beryllium upset and 90% of the state volition beryllium upset."

Another MP says: "I support reasoning I'm successful a never-ending nightmare, past I realise that I really am. I support asking my colleagues if they are having representation loss."

Boris Johnson is without question the biggest governmental personage around. But galore of his colleagues judge present it's infamy, not admiration.

He couldn't support the enactment unneurotic nether his enactment past time, truthful wherefore is determination a accidental helium volition now? Lazarus whitethorn person been raised from the dead, according to the Bible, but it was suggested helium ne'er smiled again.

But determination is an equivalent hazard for erstwhile Chancellor Rishi Sunak - who is apt to extremity up arsenic the MPs' favourite.

Some blasted him for Mr Johnson's downfall and whitethorn ne'er afloat judge him arsenic the person if helium wins, with 1 root warning: "There is simply a important portion of the Conservative Party that volition not service nether Rishi."

The Sunak and Johnson camps are a cracked reflector of each different - some would apt find it hard to bring the enactment together, starring to what 1 furniture curate calls a "never-ending ellipse of arguments".

This, by the way, is wherever Penny Mordaunt's backers judge she could triumph - escaped of the toxic baggage, and capable to propulsion the enactment unneurotic arsenic a squad skipper who could lead.

While I'm penning this, we don't yet cognize if Boris Johnson is really going to stand. You won't beryllium amazed to larn this is simply a classical Boris Johnson move.

His allies are convinced helium wants to bash it. Some of his colleagues and superfans are cockahoop that helium wants to bash it. But helium is not confirming helium volition bash it. Why?

Until helium is definite helium volition get the numbers to debar being humiliated by not making the last chopped helium would alternatively dangle the possibility, and possibly bask the attention, than corroborate helium volition stand.

If helium does not get into the last 2 helium tin accidental "ah ha, good I ne'er said I would stand, convey you for the benignant suggestion, but I ne'er truly meant it, it's not the close time".

But it's not wide that being loathed by no-one volition construe into being liked enough.

And past determination are the polls. The Tories' ratings person fallen disconnected a cliff. Could they ascent back? Of course, thing is possible.

But the polls suggest disaster, not conscionable a dip, and superhuman enactment volition beryllium required to marque a afloat betterment from this.

The public, rather rightly, often gets connected with much absorbing things than what's going connected astatine Westminster, but this clip the nationalist has noticed and for the astir portion mostly disapproves of what the Conservatives person been doing.

So wherefore would anyone privation the job?

That's politics. The substance of the high-minded telephone to service and the debased lust of of ambition.

Or arsenic 1 erstwhile elder curate says: "There is ever idiosyncratic successful the Tory Party who believes that they are the 1 who tin pb everyone to the promised land."