Tory party must see the process through

And then there were seven; or, more accurately, there was one and six others. The first round of the Tory leadership contest showed Boris Johnson to be well ahead of his rivals and he looks certain to be one of the final two participants to go before the membership. Given the inevitable bandwagon effect among MPS eager to back the eventual winner, his support can only rise over the next week as further rounds of voting take place. The fight now is over who will join him in the run-off.

Next Tuesday, candidates who fail to achieve 32 votes, or more than 10 per cent of the MPS, will be eliminated. Had that been the basis of the first round all except Mr Johnson, Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt would have been removed. Some in the party contend, therefore, that they should dispense with the rest of the knock-out stages and put the top three to the membership.

There are attractions in expediting this process, not least because critical decisions of national importance need to be taken by the end of October, if not sooner. Moreover, the Tory party is so strapped for money that the candidates put before the members will be required to pay £150,000 to Central Office to cover the costs.

But it would be unfair to change the rules at this stage. It is not impossible for one of the lower ranked candidates to pick up votes from the three who have been eliminated to move into contention. By this time next week, we will know for certain who will contest the leadership, with Mr Johnson still the firm favourite. It is conceivable that, to avoid a month-long campaign, the two finalists will agree to a coronation. But this happened with Theresa May and as a consequence her fitness for office was not properly tested.

Had she been required to face the members, would they have found her wanting? We simply cannot know. Her real test came during a general election at which she lost the party’s majority and was unable to get her Brexit policy through Parliament. But at the time of the 2016 leadership contest, those failings were not really apparent.

If the purpose of the process is to test the mettle, resolve and character of the candidates then it needs to be seen through. But it also needs to be a constructive, not a destructive, exercise if the Conservatives are not to damage their chances in a general election that may come sooner than they would like.