ANDREW PIERCE: Yet again, the Tory parliamentary party lived up to its reputation as the most duplicitous electorate in Britain after James Cleverley's exit from the leadership contest By Andrew Pierce for the Daily Mail Published: 19:35 EDT, 9 October 2024 | Updated: 19:44 EDT, 9 October 2024 e-mail View comments Even by the murky standards of Tory leadership contests, yesterday’s result was astonishing. Yet again, the Tory parliamentary party lived up to its reputation as the most duplicitous electorate in Britain. The well-liked James Cleverly, the most experienced candidate as a former foreign secretary , home secretary and Tory chairman, was runaway favourite to make it into the last two.
Prior to his assured speech at last week’s Tory conference in Birmingham , he was joint third alongside Tom Tugendhat in the race. By Tuesday’s ballot, that speech had helped catapult him into a commanding lead. The question marks over his judgement in opening negotiations with the Mauritian government as foreign secretary on the handover of the Chagos Islands, had seemingly not dented his leadership chances.
Nor the fact that, as the longest serving MP among the contenders, he was seen as a continuity candidate – when many thought the Conservatives needed change. James Cleverly crashed out of the race for the Conservative leadership in dramatic fashion yesterday Either Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick are now set to become Tory party leader No, he was quietly.
