Our future Conservative Party leadership needs to address quickly and effectively the problems which have led to the latter’s rise.
This is the post she has long wanted, and will have been disappointed not to get last time round.
She will be feeling a hand of history on her shoulder, and wondering if the other holds a knife at her back.
The erroneous assumption that hostile states were no longer relevant has rightly been abandoned. Now our Armed Forces need the resources to meet the challenge.
Last month, he told the Defence Select Committee that Russia has ousted terrorism from the top of the national threat list – which has big spending implications.
It’s one thing to recognise the long-term threats posed by states such as Russia, quite another to meet them.
Brexit has transformed the context in which we plan our security. Commitments to our European neighbours and Global Britain require more money.
The new Defence Secretary’s rawness may make him more likely to dig in against the Treasury than otherwise – precisely because he has a point to prove.
Ability, popularity with colleagues and specialist knowledge seem to have mattered more in these elections than intake or ideology.
Plus: The decline of books. Morgan sees off the cult of Mogg. Why I won’t fly RyanAir. And: As I reach a significant birthday, I mull writing my autobiography…
They already elect their chairmen and there will be fewer trips abroad – at least when the Commons is sitting. That means more scrutiny of what Ministers are up to.
Over two-thirds of Tory MPs have joined the Commons since 2010. Now they are starting to flex their muscles.
It’s increasingly clear that he is the candidate who can win back the voters we need to win the next general election.