Are any of the potential Tory leadership candidates up to scratch?

THE names mentioned (Mail) as David Cameron’s possible replacement are depressing: they’re all inadequate for the task. Boris Johnson deserves congratulations for the success of Brexit, but it was merely a subtle move towards becoming Prime Minister. Theresa May and Nicky Morgan both fit the ‘Peter Principle’ of having ‘reached their level of incompetence’. And is that ‘robotic’ Philip Hammond I see on the horizon? The name rarely mentioned now, although it certainly should be, is that of David Davis. Beaten by Cameron in the Tory leadership vote after Hague’s resignation, he’s still there and still talking common sense, as befits the experience of having been brought up on a council estate by a single parent. In the last leadership vote, I thought the wrong man had been chosen, and nothing since has encouraged me to change that opinion. I still see Mr Davis as a leader for ordinary people, ideal as an ameliorator of likely divisions between Stay and Leave factions. DEREK PEARCE, Worthing, Sussex. BORIS JOhNSON fought and won the referendum battle. Theresa May fought for us to Remain in the Eu, and if she

wins the Conservative leadership contest, if would be like a straight swap for david Cameron, with nothing gained. Who would vote Conservative then?

BOB REEVES, Billericay, Essex. THE past few days have shown that a lot of the MPs running our great country are nothing but stupid, overblown, fractious schoolchildren, and I’m beginning to be ashamed of being British. If Buffoon Boris takes over, he’ll bring the rest of the country to a standstill as he did with London’s traffic lights, interminably on red with cars pumping out noxious fumes while he reduces two-lane traffic to one lane to facilitate cyclists. If Gormless Gove, our supposed Minister for Justice, takes over, we’ll all be wondering where he was when the Sir Cliff Richard fiasco was going on. Sitting in his office drinking tea, no doubt. Would he do the same over terrorism and smuggling? David Cameron did the honourable thing by offering his resignation. Johnson and Gove should be honourable, too, and not contest the leadership race (which, no doubt, they had an eye on all through).

ALAN OSMAN, Chessington, Surrey. LOOKING for a new Tory Party leader and a Prime minister who will make our country great again? It has to be dr Liam Fox: he has experience and intelligence and is admired by the public.

JONATHAN PRICE, Hereford. OF THE prospective Tory leaders, Michael Gove is ‘proud to be a Christian’, Theresa May is ‘churchgoing’, and Nicky Morgan is ‘a devout Christian’, so it seems their religious beliefs are important. But Jesus Christ was a carpenter. Should our next Prime Minister not be a ‘chippy’, to repair the damage caused by career politicians?

HECTOR COOPER, Poole, Dorset. NICKY MORGAN says it’s important to have a woman as a candidate for the Tory leadership. In the improbable event of her becoming Prime minister, can we assume she would avoid answering innocuous questions by saying: ‘I will not dignify that sexist remark with a reply’?

MARTIN BURGESS, Beckenham, Kent. I HOPE Jeremy Hunt will consider letting his name go forward to contest the Tory leadership election. In calmly facing down the militant BMA, he demonstrated the steely resolve required to deal with the exit from the EU.