Conservative leadership contests always start with lots of handshakes and hat-tossing, but it’s never long before the criticism and knee-jerks begin.
Mel Stride accomplished just that — albeit in a characteristically courteous manner — when he appeared on Friday to announce his campaign.
Asked about another candidate’s apparent U-turn on the European Convention on Human Rights, he said: “I’m not going to criticize any of my opponents in any way.”
This would have been more credible if the shadow work and pensions secretary hadn’t followed up 90 seconds later, adding: “I think it would be a big mistake for anyone to press positions or place bets on the ground to appeal to our association or sections of it.”
This is a clear rebuke to Tom Tugendhat, who surprised some colleagues when he launched his leadership bid by proclaiming that he would be prepared to abandon the international court.
Five deputies have announced so far that they are running: Tiago Intelligently, Dame Priti Patel, Mr Step, Robert Jenrick It is Lord Tugendhat.
Kemi Badenoch is expected to declare she will be running soon – and there are doubts whether Suella Braverman has the support to do so too.
With the smoldering rubble of the election result everywhere, it will likely be impossible to control the finger-pointing.
Revealing his inclination for the highest office, Lady Priti was also in a seemingly unifying mood, writing in The Telegraph: “When we Conservatives fight each other, we lose.”
The point here is that fighting others Conservatives it’s literally what she just signed up to do.
Priti Patel enters Conservative leadership race
And as such, when you delve a little deeper into Dame Priti’s article, the tone inevitably becomes sharper.
“Our heroic members did nothing wrong. It was the politicians who fell out and fell short”, said the former Secretary of the Interior.
This raises the question: who – specifically – fell short?
Was it Boris Johnson’s fault for presiding over internal chaos and the erosion of standards in office?
Should it be blamed on Liz Truss for the economic turmoil that unfolded under her watch?
Or can Rishi Sunak be held responsible for calling an early election and failing to change course during the campaign?
See more information:
Who is running to replace Rishi Sunak?
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Each candidate will have their own perspective.
But more than that, they all also have their own record to uphold – which, in many cases, will be linked and linked to the very failures that their rivals are trying to identify.
Which brings us to the main reason why the next few months could be brutal for the Conservative party.
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This race for leadership is as much an autopsy as it is a competition.
And autopsies always tend to be bloody, especially when there are so many possible causes of death.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
