EU referendum aftermath

[Mick Norris]

Boris Johnson has pulled out of the Tory leadership race (i.e. he is not standing)!
Announced at a press conference 15 minutes before deadline. Wow.

Great news

Once again, the favourite falls in the Tory leadership election

[Christopher Kreuzer]

So who from these five? Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Theresa May.

[NickFaulks]

The final pairing will be May v Gove or Leadsom. I'd say Gove is now the last chance for those who wish to see the referendum overturned.

[MartinCarpenter]

Not perhaps a big surprise with BJ - the Conservative parliamentary party are traditionally thoroughly ruthlessly organised and they won't like people who betray a sitting PM one bit.

I wouldn't be too sure about Gove surviving to the second round either, for fairly similar reasons.

Have to say that BJ would probably have also been a thoroughly terrible choice in a practical sense. Can anyone imagine him sitting through endless years of careful negotiation/putting our laws back together?

[Bill Porter]

This one was not an open goal; Cameron hit the last shot of the match. Cameron waited till Corbyn had asked his allotted questions and so Corbyn had no opportunity to reply to this one.

Some politicians would have seen this coming and got their retaliation in first.

Corbyn probably reckoned Cameron's attack would get him at least a few extra votes and a response would be counterproductive.

Angela Eagle's transition from near hysterical misery, as the most loyal of the frontbenchers who ultimately abandoned Corbyn, to becoming the first to stand against him was a very impressive performance, but not in a good way.

[Matthew Turner]

So who from these five? Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Theresa May.

I think Leadsom and Fox have no hope of making it to the last two. I think it should be Gove and then one of May and Crabb, that might depend on who Cameron/the remain camp throw their weight behind. Very difficult to predict what will happen there.

As for the Labour leadership election, the more I think about it I just don't see Angela Eagle winning. Why hasn't she set the contest off already; all I can think is that as soon as she does other challengers will come forward and hand the victory to Corbyn.

[Jonathan Rogers]

This one was not an open goal; Cameron hit the last shot of the match. Cameron waited till Corbyn had asked his allotted questions and so Corbyn had no opportunity to reply to this one.

Some politicians would have seen this coming and got their retaliation in first.

Corbyn probably reckoned Cameron's attack would get him at least a few extra votes and a response would be counterproductive.
...

Or, more likely, if he had risen to his feet with an attempt at an equally rousing response, he might just have got twenty modest cheers from his side. Better to stay silent than to risk that.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Not perhaps a big surprise with BJ - the Conservative parliamentary party are traditionally thoroughly ruthlessly organised and they won't like people who betray a sitting PM one bit.

I wouldn't be too sure about Gove surviving to the second round either, for fairly similar reasons.

Have to say that BJ would probably have also been a thoroughly terrible choice in a practical sense. Can anyone imagine him sitting through endless years of careful negotiation/putting our laws back together?

No, but the civil service will be doing that in any event

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Not perhaps a big surprise with BJ - the Conservative parliamentary party are traditionally thoroughly ruthlessly organised and they won't like people who betray a sitting PM one bit.

I wouldn't be too sure about Gove surviving to the second round either, for fairly similar reasons.

Have to say that BJ would probably have also been a thoroughly terrible choice in a practical sense. Can anyone imagine him sitting through endless years of careful negotiation/putting our laws back together?

No, but the civil service will be doing that in any event

Will they?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-e ... m-36628897

"The BBC has been told there could be as few as a dozen experienced trade negotiators in Whitehall and the challenge may dominate Parliament for a decade."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-e ... m-36651829

"Successful negotiations require a skilled - and large - team, but the UK has not negotiated a trade deal since 1973. The EU has 596 trade negotiators and the UK urgently needs a similarly sized team to craft new deals with major trade partners. "

[David Sedgwick]

I think Leadsom and Fox have no hope of making it to the last two.

Leadsom has been consistent in her support for Brexit and was impressive in the campaign. To the best of my knowledge, she has not stabbed anyone either in the back or in the front.

You may be right that she won't make the final two, but I hope that whoever wins will appoint her as the next Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[Angus French]

angela4leader.org domain name registered on Sat 25 by PR person BEFORE Hilary Benn conversation with Corbyn which resulted in sacking of Benn. See here (evidence provided in reply tweets).

[NickFaulks]

Leadsom has been consistent in her opposition to Brexit

I don't think that's what you meant to write.

[Alistair Campbell]

So who from these five? Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Theresa May.

Three Scots in that lot.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

It will be May, won't it. Johnson supporters are switching to May in droves. Unless Gove has wider support in the membership?

From the BBC: "David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and George Osborne grew up together - personally and politically. Their families were close. But the EU referendum ripped through old loyalties. [...] What has been going on behind the scenes? The truth will only emerge in memoirs."

[Paul McKeown]

Frankly, Johnson should be sent to the Tower, and arraigned on charges of Treason, along with all the other scabid plotters. His name will go down in infamy, along with John Amery and Lord Haw Haw.