He is conflicted by disliking May’s deal yet being in the front line of a No Deal Brexit – and aware that as a Vote Leave figurehead he is unusually exposed.
He and the ERG leadership have held out for many months, but he suggests that the time has now come.
A new leader would need a new plan to reverse this evident humiliation of May’s leadership and of British statecraft.
Progress in this chart is invariably linked to media coverage – of which the former Brexit Secretary has had lots recently and the former Foreign Secretary less.
Plus: should the Prime Minister resign? Who should succeed her? And which of the possible Brexit end states do our panel prefer?
There are at least four big obstacles to any plan to crown him leader. And there’s no sign that he has endorsed it, anyway.
Plus: May under fire at home and pressure abroad. And around tables at the heart of Westminster, Labour researchers huddle, as though ready for an election and power.
Number Ten has been desperate from the start that we must remain in the Customs Union – and endure a kind of semi-skimmed faux Brexit.
When you’re worried about your child’s school, politicians look remote when they sound more interested in acronym bingo on whether we should look more like Canada or Norway.
Plus: Leadsom stonewalls, Cox charms, Brexit stalls. And: my almost-but-not-quite shoulderpads fetish.
No other entrant has more than ten per cent of the vote, though Hunt is almost there.
Plus: Should the Prime Minister resign? If so, when? What will the result of the next election be? How are Cabinet ministers performing?
Scrap HS2. Integrate social care. Abolish NI. Reverse police cuts. Consider a new Bill of Rights. And much, much more.
One can conjure up the names of former Ministers, present Ministers and backbenchers. But only one of them presently sits at the Cabinet table.
It works best when painting a substantive contrast on issues that voters care about. And here are four strategic choices for the Conservatives.
Number Ten has been desperate from the start that we must remain in the Customs Union – and endure a kind of semi-skimmed faux Brexit.