Brexiteers - Outfoxed

I've just been firing off some tweets, largely into the void - I have very few followers. It completely slipped my mind that I was supposed to posting on here daily (daily on my days off at least). It would've probably made more sense to focus my energy here, into this void.

As we speak the word on the Twitter street is that Tory MPs are beginning to switch their vote from Liz Truss to Kemi Badenoch. The people that are excited by Kemi Badenoch are excited by this. Myself not so much ..and that's what I've been tweeting in response to.

Kemi Badenoch seems very nice and intelligent. I've tried to watch some of her speeches and interviews over the last few days or so and she always impresses. I missed yesterday's debates as I was working, so I only caught a few soundbites from all that. I get the feeling she didn't make an impact in that arena - her fans were quiet on Twitter last night. Still however, she's the hope for people that don't want 'more of the same'. Though I suspect Rishi, Mordaunt and Tugendhat will all bring something quite different to what Boris brought.

My instinct with Badenoch is one of scepticism. Again, I really can't criticise her if I'm to judge her on what I've seen of her personally. It's more the political intrigue aspect that arrests me. Her entry into the race is quite convenient.

• It took the shine and limelight away from more familiar Brexiteer outsiders, like Suella Braverman. She pretty much stole her thunder.
• Her freshness and lack of experience makes Sunak and Mordaunt appear older and more experienced than they are.
• She splits the right vote. First with Braverman, and now with Truss.

Plus, if she does somehow win we have no idea who her team would be. She was supported by Michael Gove - which isn't a great omen. On top of this her husband is apparently a pro-remain banker who works for Deutsche Bank (in fact she herself also started out in banking). So though she herself appears to be a Brexiteer it's all a bit opaque. Again, we know very little about this person. To me it's crazy to put someone so unknown into Number 10, but people like shiny new things.

As with the Boris ousting it's hard to not see this as Brexiteers being thoroughly outfoxed.

Also finally I've been thinking about when the next General Election will be. I'm never entirely sure about the dates and rules for when elections happen, but my feeling is that we won't be having one too soon. Personally I think people are focusing far too much on which candidate is best placed to win the next GE for the Conservatives. The more immediate concern is the here and now, as power is power, and an election could be a good while off.

If Truss wins then given her polling it'd be wise to wait, and all the other candidates that helped to oust Boris will fear the public too much to call one eagerly. They'll probably want to make the most of the power they've just grabbed. So thwarting that grab should be the overriding focus.

[Caveat: As I've stated numerous times on this blog over the years. All the above is simply my own assessment and opinion. I could well be wrong, either partly or wholly. So perhaps my sense of doom and suspicion is misplaced and we'll be sitting pretty with Badenoch or one of the other anti-Boris candidates firmly at the helm of a successful post-Brexit Britain. Hopefully this is the case.]