The next prime minister will be...

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  • Boris Johnson tops first ballot in Tory leadership contest

    Boris Johnson has secured the highest number of votes in the first MPs' ballot to select the Conservative Party leader and next prime minister.

    Three contenders - Mark Harper, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey - were knocked out in the secret ballot of Tory MPs.

    Mr Johnson received 114 votes, significantly more than his nearest rival Jeremy Hunt, who came second with 43. Michael Gove was third with 37.

    Seven candidates progress to the next round of voting next week.

    Here's the official story of yesterday's events for anyone reading this thread in the future.

  • Rory Stewart is a clone of Theresa May. Heaven help the Tories if he wins because nobody else will. Maybe the party needs to die so there can be a rebirth.

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • I have to say, I really like him. What he said about the problems facing the elderly really resonated with me. If only he weren't a ardent remainer.

    I'm going to duck here...8o but if it were a choice between Boris and him and I had a vote, I'd vote for Rory. I am lukewarm on Boris and that's probably putting it mildly, but if he gets us out of Europe, I'll change my mind.

  • Your choice, Horizon, but supporting Stewart means we say bye bye to Brexit, and democracy too. Are you really so keen on him that you would destroy both? Any candidate that says they will never leave without an agreement with the EU is either as thick as two short planks (because we are virtually guaranteed to get a punishment deal just like May's WA, if the EU know we won't leave without one), or they want to destroy Brexit.

    Personally, I dislike him, because of the above reason, (as you may have guessed). ;)

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • I don't belong to the conservative party, so I don't get a vote in it anyway, but if Boris does what he says, then fine. After May, I go by what they do now, not what they say. I don't doubt that Stewart wants to destroy Brexit, he's much said that himself.

    If there were a opportunity for Stewart to become PM in the future once we've left the EU, then yes I would vote for him, but not until we're out.

  • Rory Stewart is different. I read his book "The Places In-Between", in which he narrated in extraordinary detail his walk through Afghanistan, which some reviewer rightly described as a gripping account of a courageous journey, observed with a scholar’s eye and a humanitarian’s heart.

    His BBC2 TV documentary on "The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia" was fabulously interesting

    He also made a speech in Parliament which has been described as one of the best speeches ever made in Parliament. It's all about Hedgehogs!!.

    https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2015-1…-15111048002639

    The world generally would be a poorer place without people like Rory Stewart. He is brainy, well educated and a very worldly explorer. In Government he best belongs in The Foreign Office or International Development, His political career has mostly concentrated in that spectrum. His brief role as Prison Minister demonstrates that his head can descend out of the clouds to tackle thorny problems and his anthropological bent put him in good stead for analysing what needs to be done for HM Prison system. That's the problem with Government - minister positions are too often a game of shuffling senior politicians where there is seldom enough time to turn things around. Rory Stewart lasted 16 months before he replaced Penny Mordaunt as secretary of State for International Development

    I don't think he has done anything as prosaic as commerce or industry. Which is why his campaigning to be PM makes him seem in my opinion to be a fish out of water. He has nothing of any depth or interest to say about Brexit other than he is adamantly opposed to a no deal Brexit and therefore won't accept a position in a Boris cabinet. He has a relaxed charismatic campaigning style which gets across his scholarly humanitarian credentials but I see little sign of substance for addressing what ails Britain and makes no attempt to weigh up thepros & cons of Remain versus Leave. Also, his aggressive hostility to Boris Johnson seems childish and naive for someone putting themselves forward as party leader. He is developing an air of moral superiority bordering on smugness, which is a trait I believe could soon become reviled in a prime minister.  


  • A walk through Afghanistan is courageous? , seems a bit luvvie/ worthy/ look at me in my opinion , also HE IS A REMAINER , we've done that and how did it end up regarding Brexit?

  • One of the reasons I was attracted to Farages new Brexit Party is because his list of candidates contains a lot of successful business people.

    They have real life experience of running a company, negotiating, budgeting, employing, etc. Not only that, but it demonstrates the Remainer claim that 'businesses' want to Remain in the EU is just another lie intended to deceive.

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • Did you see his candidacy speech? If you didn't, I urge you to seek it out either on the iplayer or the internet.

    Some people I just warm to instantly, like him, and others, like Boris, make my skin scrawl.

    I've not read his book (or any for that matter for a long time) but I will in the future, when circumstance allows.

    He is immensely experienced, as you say in foreign affairs and there is speculation that a lot of his overseas work was in fact for Mi6, which doesn't surprise me considering his intellect.

    All the other candidates left me cold with their speeches, but his was warm and most important of all, relevant, speech, hit home with me. Very home.

    Would I vote for him now with his current stance on Brexit, no, but he is one person I'm sure we'll hear a lot from in the future post Boris.

    As for his smugness, or apparent smugness, I tend to find they're all like that, but he does need to wind it back a bit if he wants another chance for the top job in the future. His comments about Boris are obvious, he has worked with him and cannot hide his dislike of the man. It is telling that no one who has worked closely with Boris, is supporting his leadership.

  • Here is quite a cutting article about Rory Stewart, with which I agree. He would just be another Theresa May, and we all know how destructive she was towards the UK.

    Save us from Rory Stewart, the fakest fake Conservative

    I didn't think he was acting in his speech, but who knows. I don't think he is another Blair, just a actor on a stage and that's based on all the experiences he has had, but time will tell if he ever gets another crack of the leadership again.

    Anyway, for now, he'll get nowhere with his Brexit stance, so I agree with the author on that one.

    Having a speech in a circus tent while calling your opponent a clown, is, I must admit, bizarre.

  • So Boris got the most votes but they still have to have another round of voting what a lot of fucking about, just give Boris the job so he can get on with getting us out of the EU, just more delays after more delays, enough is enough.

  • So Boris got the most votes but they still have to have another round of voting what a lot of fucking about, just give Boris the job so he can get on with getting us out of the EU, just more delays after more delays, enough is enough.

    Rules must be adhered to ... except when it's Remainers bending the rules, then it's ok.

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • Rules must be adhered to ... except when it's Remainers bending the rules, then it's ok.

    Just seems a lot of fannying about having more than one vote, should be one person one vote especially since Boris won by so many in the first round.

  • Just seems a lot of fannying about having more than one vote, should be one person one vote especially since Boris won by so many in the first round.

    The Remainers still want a Remainer PM, so Boris has a lot of hurdles still to overcome. I reckon it's going to get very nasty as the Remainers still haven't the intelligence and sense to realise that it's a 'proper' Brexit, or the death of the Tory party. They would rather kill their own party than honour the democratic vote that they gave to the country. There were no conditions that the vote would only be respected if it gave the 'right' result, until after the event.

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • Talking of remainers, I caught some of Andrew Marr's show earlier and Rory Stewart was on it. He still thinks he can get May's deal through parliament, but if not, his big idea is to convene a "people's committee" selecting people from all over the country to decide the matter. So, there. Brexit is all settled if it were to fall in his hands...:rolleyes:

  • Talking of remainers, I caught some of Andrew Marr's show earlier and Rory Stewart was on it. He still thinks he can get May's deal through parliament, but if not, his big idea is to convene a "people's committee" selecting people from all over the country to decide the matter. So, there. Brexit is all settled if it were to fall in his hands...:rolleyes:

    Define "people's committee" , bricklayers? , plumbers and shop workers? , or a bunch of leftie , city living luvvies ? , I think we know the answer to that one !

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