None are willing to admit that an election is likely, and set out how on earth they would win it with Brexit undelivered.
Any candidate who focuses solely on leaving the EU will hit a brick wall with the Parliamentary Party.
The start of a series in which we ask seven public questions of the leading contenders. They may not be the most convenient, but that’s why we’re asking them.
The President’s support for Johnson may do the latter no good among voters, but it’s likely to do him no harm among another electorate – Tory activists.
Paul Goodman and Mark Wallace probe who’s had a good and bad week, what happens next – and why the contest isn’t rising to events.
We don’t know whether they believe it to be prudent or desirable or both – but the message to the leadership contenders is clear.
The 1922 Committee’s Executive ought to raise the threshold for being nominated to 12 MPs and see more than one candidate eliminated in each round.
His announcement on EU nationals – crafted to appeal to liberal Leavers, Remainers and Softer Brexiteers – has perfect pitch in terms of the coalition he is trying to build.
Ministers will only be able to justify plans to relax rules for skilled workers from around the world if they are also introducing controls on unskilled EU workers.
The present election will turn on whether MPs and activists put national popularity before ideological soundness.
Campaigning through policy might be effective, but each promise made by a leadership candidate with little time for thought or research is a hostage to fortune.
In the week leading up to June 6, it’s worth remembering how division and disagreement were overcome.