It may be too late to save the next election. But a unifier like Michael Gove could prepare the party for effective opposition
Never underestimate the Tory party. It has confined Labour to just 13 of the past 43 years in office. It never gives in without a fight and is unafraid of ruthlessly toppling leaders. The latest, Liz Truss, has shown herself in just four weeks to have been a major mistake. The party has two years to correct that mistake before facing the electorate.
The Tories have been here before. In 2003, they ejected their choice of Iain Duncan Smith before even letting him near a ballot box. The party was then defeated under Michael Howard, as it had been defeated when it chose Alec Douglas-Home as caretaker prime minister in 1963 to replace the discredited Harold Macmillan. But in both cases a new leader substantially improved the party’s rating. Douglas-Home proved a healing and popular prime minister who came close to beating Labour a year later.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
