It’s time for Boris to become the leader that Britain needs

NEXT Saturday morning, 160,000 ballot papers for the Tory leadership contest will start dropping through the letterboxes of party members across Britain.

It is a quirk of our democracy that such a narrow group will pick the man to guide us through the biggest crisis we have seen since the Second World War.

The contest has not turned out to be the coronation of Boris Johnson many expected, and that is undoubtedly a good thing.

To his great credit, Jeremy Hunt has run an energetic and spirited campaign.

He should be applauded for forcing Mr Johnson to face public scrutiny at a time when his aides wanted him to shy away from the spotlight and claim victory by default.

Mr Hunt, however, remains deeply unconvincing on the question that most exercises party members: how we extract ourselves from the flytrap that is the EU.

This time last week, Mr Johnson’s campaign appeared to be in disarray after the police were called to attend a bust-up at the flat he shares with girlfriend Carrie Symonds.

Seven days on, things look slightly rosier. Mr Johnson has outlined a series of eye-catching policy initiatives, such as cutting stamp duty, lowering taxes and offering a major cash boost for education to improve the chances of every child.

How novel to hear a Tory politician advocate Tory policies!

And in today’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Johnson underlines his passion to unite Britain and maintain the Union of its constituent nations at a time when it has never felt more under threat.

He is absolutely right to stress that ‘properly done, Brexit will not threaten the Union’.

But not even Mr Johnson’s greatest admirers would claim that this campaign has seen the electrifying politician he has been in the past – and needs to be again if he’s to come even remotely close to living up to his self-image as the Churchill of our age.

There are also worrying tensions brewing inside Mr Johnson’s camp between his more traditional advisers and those surrounding Miss Symonds, the party’s former director of communications.

Such rifts are damaging enough in a Tory leadership battle, but they would be catastrophic if they were to be carried into a No10 locked in conflict with both the EU and Jeremy Corbyn.

Speaking of whom, today’s claims about the Labour leader’s health – and the poisonous battles between the dedicated Marxists who surround him – underline once again how vital it is for the country that the Tories get their act together.

At Mr Johnson’s best, he would make mincemeat of Mr Corbyn, the least popular Opposition leader we have seen since Michael Foot. Indeed, an Ipsos Mori poll last week revealed that only 17 per cent of voters are satisfied with the job Labour’s leader is doing, while 75 per cent are dissatisfied.

Yet despite Mr Corbyn’s abysmal personal ratings, many would still expect him to win any General Election held this year.

This – as well as Brexit – should focus the minds of Tory members as they complete their ballot papers next weekend.

Mr Johnson is certainly doing better now than he has been. But, in terms of ideas, organisation and the personal magnetism that’s always been his calling card, he still needs to do so much better.

Today Mr Johnson talks of his pride in our great country. Now he needs to show us that he can be a Prime Minister the country can be proud of.