Daniel Moylan says that when Penny Mordaunt was hired to be Head of Communications for Kensington and Chelsea Council he had to fire her because “she was incompetent… she couldn’t do the job”. It is noticeable that, unlike the other candidates, no minister in her department is backing her…

This follows on from Lord Frost yesterday saying he asked for her to be moved as his junior minister:

“She was my deputy — notionally more than really — in the Brexit talks last year. I’m sorry to say this, she did not master the necessary detail in the negotiations last year . . . sometimes I didn’t even know where she was.

“I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the PM to move her on and find somebody else to support me. From the basis of what I saw, I would have grave reservations.”

MPs may, after recent events, want to reflect carefully on the executive capabilities of the next person they put into Downing Street. No one is disputing Rishi is a details guy, just does he have popular electoral appeal?