I called recently for the Cabinet to tell Johnson that the game is up, and Dowden’s resignation is the closest that any of them have got.
The Transport Secretary, an early backer of Johnson for the leadership, has become one of the Government’s most trusted media performers
The Party Chairman responsible for fund-raising is playing for higher stakes than he may appreciate.
The co-Party Chairman says next year’s local elections will definitely go ahead, and won’t give a figure for Party membership.
The task of choosing the final two runners must remain with MPs, who know them better than the members do.
Yet even if their concerns don’t ultimately lead to them backing someone else, these shouldn’t simply be dismissed as having no consequences.
Well, it’s been quite a week, hasn’t it?
The loss of Feldman, the hopelessness of Corbyn and Eurosceptic donor fatigue all play their part. CCHQ says it has a plan to get the money rolling in again.
It is possible that the Party may end this new year in a weaker position than before the 2015 election if CCHQ doesn’t act quickly.
Lord Woolton (pictured right) was the greatest-ever, rebuilding the Conservatives after the war. But here are my favourite five.
Either we widen the membership of political parties and change the way they are funded, or the next stop will be a UK-style Donald Trump.
The alternative is that somebody else will do it – and this has already started.
The former pit worker is the man to make the Conservatives a true One Nation party.
Three meetings with the ’22 each year, with no questions allowed, are simply not sufficient. Even Corbyn engages more than this.