The Chalice

The CDO’s [Conservative Democratic Organisation] chairman, David Campbell-Bannerman, said the party faces a “turning point” as it risked the possibility of losing office to Labour, and claimed that Mr Sunak still had questions over his legitimacy as he was not elected by party members.¹ (my emphasis)

The Conservative party were power hungry. Everything else was secondary. The Maastricht Treaty, 1992, changed all that.² John Major’s premiership imploded into internecine warfare, culminating in a self-inflicted leadership contest in 1995. Major manufactured the contest as a ‘put up, or shut up’ event to lance the boil. Nothing changed apart from a stronger Labour party. Thirteen years of Labour governments postponed the in-fighting, which resumed when David Cameron took office in 2010.

Cameron tried to resolve the EU ‘boil’ with an In-Out referendum in 2016. He played his cards badly and lost. Brexit ended his prime ministership. In-coming Theresa May negotiated terms.

The Conservative pressure group European Research Group (ERG) treacherously plotted her downfall. They succeeded. Brexit had become an ideological motif with ERG a True Believer cult led by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The Poison

Jacob Rees-Mogg [former Conservative cabinet minister]has accused Rishi Sunak of “behaving like a Borgia” after the Government scaled back its promised post-Brexit bonfire of EU-era law.³

“You never know with Boris.” This is Gutto Harri’s assessment of Johnson’s political stability’ Johnson has the delusional belief that he has inherited Churchillian greatness.⁴ Sunak, knows the other former prime ministers are working to sabotage his prime ministership out of hatred.

Usually, out-going prime ministers resigned from parliament: Margaret Thatcher, 1990; John Major, 1997; Tony Blair, 2007; Gordon Brown, 2010 and David Cameron, 2016. That practice ended with Theresa May, 2019, after her career ended à la Julius Caesar.⁵ She’s a festering presence on the back-benches being ‘helpful’. Boris Johnson, 2022, committed political suicide and blamed everyone except himself. He’s posing as ‘the Prince over the Water’ and many Conservative MP supporters believe he’s a vote-getting machine. Finally, Liz Truss, 2022. Her triumph of ambition over talent flared out after 49 days of Zombie Thatcherism As delusional as Johnson, she ‘knows’ she’s right and the financial world is wrong. 

Rishi Sunak inherited organised groups who make Ted Heath’s gigantic ‘Sulk’, 1975-2001, look insignificant. All three former prime ministers bitterly resent Sunak and want revenge. They have willing sword bearers. Johnson is, of course, supreme at treachery but neither May or Truss should be under-estimated in this gruesome ‘Game of Thrones’.

The parliamentary Conservative party have abandoned loyalty, preferring internecine war. Sunak’s Kamikazi enemies are fatal to the possibility of Conservative success. A likely defeat began with the end of the tradition of former prime ministers resigning when leaving office. Sunak will be unfairly blamed if they are defeated in 2024.

Notes

1 Rishi Sunak is overseeing the ‘managed decline’ of the Tory party, blasts Priti Patel (msn.com)

2 Maastricht Treaty – Wikipedia

3 Jacob Rees-Mogg rages at Sunak for ‘behaving like Borgia’ after Brexit law U-turn (msn.com) The Borgia Family were notorious for treachery. “….they were suspected of many crimes, including adultery, incest, simony, theft, bribery, and murder (especially murder by arsenic poisoning).” House of Borgia – Wikipedia Rees-Mogg’s comment is hysterical ranting as opposed to a reasoned opinion by a senior politician.

4 ‘You never know with Boris’ – former press chief says Tories ‘addicted to killing each other’ so Johnson could return (msn.com)

5 Theresa May was 63 when she left office; Boris Johnson, 58; Liz Truss, 47. All three were at their peak political ages when losing power.