At the end of last year, I mentioned in passing that I thought Priti Patel was a good outside bet to be the next Conservative Party leader. At the time her odds were 50/1. This week I checked her odds again and they have tightened undramatically to 40/1. Are New Statesman subscribers not betting people or were they simply unpersuaded by the suggestion? Here I am, offering potentially lucrative betting tips and the market has barely moved. What is the matter with you?
It is all very well saying that Patel would make an implausible party leader, incapable of offering a broad appeal to the country at large and lacking the intellectual capacity to be seen as prime ministerial. I am not saying that is wrong, but have you forgotten that Liz Truss once got the job too? (Something which I cannot resist pointing out had been predicted here.)
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