Why Rishi is the right man to lead us out of this chaos

THIS is no time for experiments and wild gambles. After the tumult of the past few weeks – which followed months of Boris-induced infighting – the Tory Party needs to be stabilised.

Credibility must be re-established, and that means having a high-quality Cabinet supporting a high-quality leader. That is why I do not believe the next leader should be Boris Johnson.

The last few months of his premiership were a total mess and caused great damage to both the party and the country.

He showed poor judgment and a lack of leadership over Partygate and the allegations of sexual misconduct against Tory whip Chris Pincher, and there was a general misdirection of policy towards the end of his time in office.

What’s more, the Privileges Comour mittee inquiry into Partygate could potentially lead to Mr Johnson being suspended from the Commons or expelled from Parliament.

In other words, if re-elected as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson could find himself being dumped just weeks later, meaning yet another leadership election.

Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak are both strong candidates for the top job. But my vote tomorrow will be for Rishi. First, he is someone who the financial markets trust.

This, paradoxically, would save the Government from having to set out policies that dance to the markets’ tune. Second, he displayed character and courage in the last leadership campaign, predicting the risks of Truss’s economic policies.

Above all, he has the technical skills and intellect to deliver solutions to all the major challenges that are facing the Government.

This crisis, though, is not just about the choice of our next PM. The root of many problems is that last two prime ministers chose Cabinets almost exclusively from a narrow group of cronies they thought they could dominate.

What we need now is a meritocratic cross-section of Ministers – a Cabinet of all the talents. It would be wise to keep some of Truss’s top team. Ben Wallace has excelled as Defence Secretary. Jeremy Hunt has restored stability during his short time as Chancellor.

Whoever becomes Prime Minister must put together a genuine unity Cabinet. Indeed, there is a wealth of talent and experience on the backbenches.

Such a ministerial reset with a new team of people of proven competence would give the public and the markets newfound confidence.

That is the only way we Tories will be able to compete at the next election – and give the country the leadership it so desperately needs.