‘Don’t treat leader race like reality TV’
DEFENCE minister Tobias Ellwood has accused Tory colleagues of ‘toying’ with entering the leadership race and said they need to take the post of prime minister more seriously.
Mr Ellwood said ‘this is not a reality TV show’, warning that talk about a contest is ‘self-indulgent and parochial’ when the Brexit deadlock has yet to be resolved by parliament.
Ruling himself out of the running, Mr Ellwood added: ‘How does it look to a nation when we have got the biggest issue there, Brexit, and yet we have got, what is it, up to 20, 25 people, thinking, or toying, or denying being firm with the answer, to say, “No, I’m not going to stand”.’ Meanwhile, Tories on both sides of the debate exchanged Twitter insults. Arch Brexiteer Andrea Jenkins accused colleague Victoria Adkins of having ‘bad mouthed’ her, prompting party grandee Sir Nicholas Soames to retort: ‘#absoluteBallsgetalife’.