United Kingdom

Unless we reverse that somehow, I shudder to think who comes next.

When May got in, a number of us sighed in grudging relief, as her main final opponent in the leadership contest at the time was Andrea Leadsom, who there's no question would have been even worse. I never failed to take Johnson seriously as a contender this time round (a few years ago, I wouldn't have). That's a sign of how standards have slipped. Apart from the outlier of Rory Stewart, my opinion of the other candidates was based on how bad they'd play for the Tories beyond their base.

I don't know how things are going electorally on the ground in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but here in Scotland, it looks like Johnson's playing out much as I expected, for example near Perth (at one time a Tory stronghold, and a very close-run win for the SNP last election):

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None of the national polls at the moment are registering this, but I'm taking them all with a pinch of salt given the upheaval and uncertainty around what's going to happen.

The Tory Conference currently going on in Manchester's been quite interesting, though. Here's Leadsom having a "please clap" moment while trying to cheerlead for Johnson:

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Here's Liz Truss on her usual sparkling form:

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And here are some candid pics of the main audience:








(I'm not sure about that last one, but the prospect of this bunch rioting if they don't get their Brexit chills the blood.)