The State Opening of Parliament went off immaculately, but the debate which followed sounded staged too.
We hurl abuse at here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians and their advisers, while the permanent state flourishes like a green bay tree.
Did those in power still believe it was right to terrify the nation into submissions with their fear-mongering campaigns warning us to stay away from our loved ones? And why did the rules constantly change and at very little notice?
if you look at the odds for the next Conservative leader, there are no white men among the front runners. The top five comprise Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt, James Cleverly, Suella Braverman and Gillian Keegan.
His critics think he is “a busted flush”: how eager he will be to demonstrate that he is, on the contrary, serious.
My hunch is the next generation of aspiring leaders will have a firmer grip on the meaning of conservatism than the current crop. Or, at least, I hope so — otherwise there might not be a party to lead.
But many London Jews find it is too soon to speak of the horrific events in Israel, and are filled with sombre forebodings.
On the first afternoon the Government lacked an orator who could make Conservatives feel good about being Conservative.
Tensions between the rights of Party members and the essentials of Parliamentary democracy can’t be smoothed away altogether. The question is how best to manage them.
It would be unfair to accuse Davey, the Lib Dem leader, of being dull: that is part of his task as he works out his election manifesto.
It’s past time that mainstream Tory politicians recognised these realities and engaged with it as an opportunity rather than as the broadcasting equivalent of a leper colony.