Plus: John Lewis blames Brexit. Juncker gets a drink. BBC stasis at Question Time and PM. And: Trump can’t emote.
Pro-Brexit MPs weighed a no-confidence vote in Theresa May yesterday evening. But the essential case against one remains unchanged.
Javid retains second place and drifts down slightly. For the moment, these two are only game in town – at least, as far as our panel is concerned.
The MPs, of course, pick the final two in a leadership race. Plus: the Westminster Transfer Window. And: my workaholic holiday.
We know more today than we did yesterday – and we aim to know still more tomorrow.
It’s the Chequers factor – as Gove falls from second to fifth. Javid remains competitive on 19 per cent, coming second this month.
Polling Conservative members is a tricky business, but these mutually reinforcing findings suggests our free, monthly survey is up to the task.
Say what you like about him (and many do), the recently-resigned Foreign Secretary is one of the very few Tories with voter cut-through.
“The very fact that people think they might do this is utterly destructive, utterly unnecessary, and they should back her to the hilt.”
Plus: Why hasn’t May done a single interview about her Brexit plan since last Friday? And: Take a bow, Gareth Southgate and company.
Will there be further resignations? Will the 48 letters go to Sir Graham Brady? If the 48 letters do go in, will May win – and survive?
What may count most today is not whether the water simmers over, but whether his temper and patience do instead – or first.
It’s a close-run thing, with fewer than 20 votes in over a thousand separating these two Big Beasts among potential contenders.
Johnson gets less reward than one might expect for his earlier backing for Leave, and this narrow win underlines the general decline in his ratings.
Javid’s storming of our Next Tory Leader finding will render this result, like Michael Gove’s trouncing of Boris Johnson, no surprise to our readers.