Our pre-Commons stage take was that Johnson is best placed to do so on time. As ballot papers are returned, we stick by that judgement.
It offers no evidence of a Hunt surge, and by this time next week a significant percentage of Party members will have voted.
He is an admirably English candidate, a sensitive and prudent man who can be relied on to behave like an officer and a gentleman.
Associations are on alert after an unidentified man phoned members to demand urgent payments to secure their right to vote in the forthcoming ballot.
Claims about an organised, hostile takeover of the Party have reared their heads again. Is there any truth to them?
Who are you voting for to run the EU Commission? Have you watched the debates and scrutinised their manifestos? Oh, wait.
His campaign was slow to start, and sometimes misfired. But he found his voice, is part of a Johnson future – and is back on the up.
Other candidates for the top job gain ground – but not all do so. Meanwhile, the Cabinet’s collective approval rating rises somewhat as May’s departure approaches.
What he detests is less liberalism than democracy, and the obstacle it poses to Russian foreign policy objectives.
Johnson’s first biographer confesses to feelings of bemusement, even incredulity, at the recent turn of events.
A week ago, we reported that, were Brexit delivered, Johnson would perform better in such an election. Hunt has now overhauled him on the same measure.
A tiny change in the return allows us to write that 50 per cent of Conservative Party members now want a pact.
He is not wide of the election manifesto on which he stood, and should not be no-confidenced this evening. But there is a sting in the tail.
Hunt has gained far more ground than Johnson since last week – but the latter has double the Foreign Secretary’s vote share and a lead of over 30 points.
In a low blow, the Scottish Nationalists pretend to back Hunt.