ANDREW MURRAY surveys a quaking continent whose leaders have no idea how to respond to an openly contemptuous United States
Tory contenders won’t learn from their history, but the left can
KEITH FLETT draws parallels with the 1834 Tory crisis, noting the absence of modern-day Robert Peel among the leadership contenders capable of reinventing the party for a new era

AS the author Geoffrey Wheatcroft wrote in the Guardian recently, not even the Tories care who wins the contest to be the next Tory leader. With 121 MPs, it’s very unlikely that whoever is elected will get be a Tory prime minister.
The Tory leadership contest has now reached a halfway stage. After two ballots, six candidates have now been whittled down to four.
However, with such a small electorate and with each of the four attracting support, all we have really learnt so far is that the Tories are completely split over where to go for the future.
More from this author

KEITH FLETT looks back 50 years to when the Iron Lady was elected Tory leader…

The legacy of an 1820 conspiracy in revenge for Peterloo resonates down the ages, argues KEITH FLETT

Britain’s first woman Chancellor delivers the same old fudge, as Labour’s commitment to economic orthodoxy, seen throughout its history, always betrays working people, writes KEITH FLETT

Every few years, it seems like the ‘right time’ to build a new left party — but what are the right conditions, asks socialist historian KEITH FLETT, looking back at the last two centuries and the insights of Ralph Miliband and EP Thompson
Similar stories

As the Conservative Party struggles to find its next leader, STEPHEN ARNELL offers a sardonic tour through the rogues’ gallery of contenders and their less-than-inspiring qualifications