The Conservative MP Julian Critchley once remarked that Michael Heseltine knew exactly “how to find the clitoris of the Tory party”. Boris Johnson, who likes to tell ministers that he is a “Brexity Hezza”, has a similar effect upon the Conservative Party faithful, albeit in a less sophisticated way than Heseltine.
Although Conservative MPs turned to Johnson because of his credibility on an issue where he was at one with the Tory grassroots – Brexit – part of Johnson’s political success is his ability to take the party with him when he is at odds with its preferred orthodoxies and previous approaches. And that dynamic played out in his Conservative conference speech today (6 October).
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