We can now see the new Government taking shape, after a dramatic bout of sackings and new appointments at the top.
He says he’s best placed to deliver Brexit, slash corporation tax and beat Corbyn. And adds “I am not going to criticise Boris for going to a posher public school than me.”
Also: don’t cut members out of the contest. And the right exam question for candidates is: who can best win a general election?
The vocation of the front-runner is not to mess up. And he hasn’t. Indeed, he has picked up support – and upped the pace.
We see no reason why the bottom three, say, shouldn’t fall out each time – rather than just the one, as previously.
From: Hunt, Javid, Gove, Hancock, Stewart, Truss, Rudd, Johnson, Leadsom, Raab, Harper and Baker.
In a field this crowded and with an electorate so, er, sophisticated, make no assumptions about which names will be forwarded to Party members.
There is more sympathy across the House for the Prime Minister than one would guess from the headlines.
No way forward is without risk at this stage. But the least hazardous course is for the Party to step out soon with a new leader.