The row over his sacking is a sign of a Party pulled in different directions by the way politics works – and by culture wars. Now a new competitor is knocking at the door.
If anti-private landlord agendas are allowed to shape Government policy, things will only get worse for them and for their tenants alike.
Some counter-intuitive, or at least counter-conventional, findings from a recent IFS report.
Wanted: a grand bargain with voters, whereby some rises at the top end are traded off for others nearer the bottom.
This election follows a referendum that strained, and in some cases shattered, party loyalties. The Prime Minister ought now to be building her own big tent.
In a Daily Telegraph piece on the eve of poll, Margaret Thatcher argued for Europe, putting co-operation ahead of trade.