1922 Committee Chair Graham Brady has accidentally said the quiet part out loud: that Tory members are too insane to be allowed pick their leader when the party is in government. Because the parliamentary party has a much better record, not…

Speaking to Durham University students last week, Brady said it was  “crazy” that members were able to vote for the governing party’s new leader after MPs issued a vote of no confidence in a Prime Minister. Paying the membership fees and campaigning doesn’t seem to be enough…

Brady’s dismissal of grassroots members as unreliable or uninformed in selecting their leader throws a light on the undemocratic and dismissive approach taken by many establishment Tory MPs. Guido reminds his readers that Cameron and Johnson – the two most successful Tory leaders of the past fourteen years – were elected by party members. By contrast, Sunak and May were installed by MPs only. Surely there won’t be an attempt to exclude members again at the next leadership contest…