Time for the Tories to calm down

The Conservative party is much the most formidable electoral machine in political history. In the past, it has recovered from misjudgments and even disasters, because it never found itself on the wrong side of history for very long. In Chris Patten’s phrase, the facts of life are Conservative. Most Conservatives believe that they are the true national party; that their country is never safe for long unless it is under Conservative stewardship.

Now? In recent months, this great electoral machine has come close to succumbing to St Vitus’s dance. If the party had set out to trash its own brand, it could hardly have done better. Until the past couple of days, Conservatives were faced by the biggest threat in their history: Boris Johnson. De mortuis: it is probably now safe to leave him to find the next outlet for his insensate anarchic egotism – with one caveat. Boris Trump, also known as Borisconi, resembles another figure from the political past: Rasputin.

Until Bojo has been subjected to the poisoned cake, the icy Neva, the silver bullet and the stake through the heart at the crossroads, we should never rule out the prospect of a political resurrection. Yet we can be sure of one point. Whatever his plans for the future, they would not include coming to the aid of his party, or his country.

But – a point that was unclear until the beginning of the week – the Tory party is now in a position to survive Boris Johnson. It must begin that process by encouraging a dramatic change of mood. It is time for Tories to calm down. Although there are difficulties at home and dangers abroad, at least the leadership question is settled. We have a new Prime Minister. It is to be hoped that we will soon have a strong Cabinet, with ministers capable of thinking through problems and creating an aura of authoritative stability. 

Sunak himself should gently but firmly point out to his colleagues that there is only so much he can do. Pledging to devote every ounce of his energy to strong leadership and good government, he should remind his supporters that to be successful, leadership requires followership. He should also remind them that there are almost two years to go until the next Election. That is a long time in politics. So the Tories have a greater opportunity to recover than they really deserve.

They have begun to earn it by choosing the right leader. Rishi Sunak is a grown-up. Highly able, wholly likeable, at ease in his own skin, he is a profound patriot with deeply-rooted values, including family values. A Conservative, with a firm grasp of economic realities, he is also a Tory with a romantic attachment to Britain. This is a new leader capable of mounting a rescue and a counter-attack. He is also capable of encouraging a political re-set.

The Tories chose the first, and so far only, Jewish party Leader. (They must hope that Rishi Sunak will have more electoral success than Benjamin Disraeli.) Tories also chose the first female leader, who has been followed by others, with varying degrees of ability. But at a time when senior Labour figures cannot seem to decide on a definition of womanhood, life is easier for the Tories. “A woman is someone who could lead the Conservative party.” So is a person of Asian heritage.

Nietzsche wrote that if you stare into the abyss for long enough, it will stare back at you. There have been moments when a lot of Tories seemed ready to spurn that wise advice. They did not just stare into the abyss. They danced around the edges. But here are signs that even most of the awkward squad have seemed the error of their ways. Late, desperately late, but not quite too late, sanity is returning. At last, Tories have stopped idolising Bojo’s patron saint. St Vitus is off the agenda.

Ed Davey, Keir Starmer and Nicola Sturgeon and Keir Starmer must all be disappointed. Each of them will have been rooting for a Boris second innings. Whatever they say in public, they know that Sunak is a serious obstacle to their ambitions.

If the Conservative Party had rejected him, it would have been lunging into insanity. But we have now discovered something that many had come to doubt. There are limits to the Tory party’s taste for self-harm.

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