+ Boris Johnson may well have reached 100 signatures - but this Chris Heaton-Harris MP msg doesn't actually say so.

Dan's right. And they are right to be worried. But you have to wonder why the thought that Johnson might screw over his allies has only just occurred to them

But I have to tell you my friends. . .

Sunak getting v close to the point where he has so many backers that there can only be one other candidate.

And this is the core problem for Tories. In the friendliest and gentlest possible way Steve Baker says the ERG would sink the government if it fails to deliver a policy which cannot be delivered

Imagine flying all the way back from the Caribbean holiday you were on while Parliament was sitting just to endorse Rishi Sunak

Also remarkable that with only 40 hours till a potential coronation, not one of the contenders has bothered to say a word to the voters they will shortly be foisted upon.
I know the priority is getting the nominations ,but you might find a word for the poor bloody citizens

But I have to tell you my friends. . .

Curious phrasing - I could if I wanted, but maybe I don’t

I know there are good reasons for scepticism about David Frost's powers of analysis (NIP, backing Truss etc) but his endorsement of Sunak feels quite significant

The one thing I'm struck by is how few Tory MPs mention what they think is best for the country. They talk almost entirely in terms of what is right for their party

Look on the bright side. If we don't like the next Tory leader the party can always get rid of them in a few weeks

The last Prime Minister to take up office by winning a general election and to lose office then by losing one was Ted Heath.

Which means for anyone born after 19 June 1970, this - the theory on which so much of our political system is based - has not happened in their lifetime

The Germans have a word for it: Totentanz – a dance of death. Conservative MPs, peers, donors, hacks and activists caper owards an open grave, with Death himself – sorry, Johnson – leading the procession.
Superb Paul Goodman

conservativehome.com/2022/10/21/tot…

Meanwhile in the world of people who don't think politics is a game

“The thought occurs that perhaps the Conservative Party no longer cares.  Perhaps the sum of its ambition is to become the provisional wing of the right-wing entertainment industry: happy to preach to a diminishing band of true believers”

Totentanz conservativehome.com/2022/10/21/tot…

Love this column at every level thetimes.co.uk/article/lets-g…

Asra Panahi, 15, died after being beaten by Iran's security forces during a raid on her school for her refusal to sing a pro-regime anthem. Officials first claimed she had a heart condition, then said she'd killed herself.
#مهسا_امینی
#اسرا_پناهی
bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…