Conservative leadership race UNMASKED- Who has what it takes to win?

We find ourselves in a period of mass political hat throwing. Following Boris Johnson, whom threw his hat in to the ring over 2 weeks ago, are Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Michael Gove. What can we expect from this, short sharp sprint which will officially begin on the 7th of June and will conclude before the end of July? Laura Kuennsberg’s take on this is that it will favour the well-known candidates. As of Sunday morning, Boris Johnson is the favourite with SkyBet  at 6/4.

Boris Johnson’s leadership ambitions have been one of Westminster’s worst kept secrets. Following his failed attempt in 2016 Mr Johnson was installed into Theresa May’s cabinet. Following his resignation in July 2018 in protest at Theresa May’s movement towards a softer Brexit, which was set out at Chequers, he has been on the backbenches of the commons biding his time. Should Mr Johnson make it into the final 2 candidates, which will then be put to the membership, it is difficult to see him not winning from that position.

The second favourite with Sky Bet is Dominic Raab, Mr Raab has attracted significant support from the grassroots of the conservative party. As with Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab resigned as Brexit secretary in November 2018 citing that he couldn’t support the governments Brexit plans. Significant points were made about Mr Raab’s negotiation style, where he has been described as an awkward negotiator by officials at the EU. Many will cite this in their reasoning for attempting to push Dominic Raab into Downing street.

It would have been tricky to craft a piece on the summers main leadership contest without mentioning Michael Gove. Following Mr Gove’s betrayal of Boris Johnson in 2016, when he decided to withdraw his support for their ‘dream ticket’ at the eleventh hour, it remains to be seen how popular Mr Gove currently is. However, Michael Gove is without doubt an excellent orator as seen in his speech in January during Theresa May’s confidence vote, in which he dismantled a defenceless Jeremy Corbyn. The most surreal thing about this, was that this process was supposed to be a scrutiny of a prime minister who had just suffered the biggest defeat for a sitting government in history. Arguably, that day whilst Mrs May survived Michael Gove was the real winner.

A candidate who has gone quite successfully under the radar is Sir Graham Brady. Following his resignation as the Chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee on Friday it soon became clear that he would be running in the leadership contest. This resignation was necessary as it would not have been appropriate for him to be adjudicating on the process in which he was a candidate. Mr Brady is hugely respected within the parliamentary party; however, it remains to be seen if he would be able to do well enough in a final run off against a bigger known name in order to become Britain’s next PM.

Although the contest does not officially get under way until the 7th of June, the political jostling is firmly underway and has been for a significant period of time. I expect there to be many twists and turns throughout. Many suggest it is Boris Johnson’s to lose. However, with his maverick style and his error prone tendencies it is unlikely to be a procession.

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Oliver Down

Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!

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