One evening early in this autumn term in Parliament, Tory MPs crowded excitedly into a parliamentary office for drinks and nibbles. It wasn’t a particularly unusual event: there were many more people than could fit in the room, though MPs surged in and out like the tide as the division bell rang. But in between votes, the host gave a speech that marked this out from all the other drinks events that MPs throw for one another.
That host was Owen Paterson, and he told the room, which was made up mainly of right-leaning eurosceptic Conservatives, that he would be writing a set of policy papers for a future leadership contender to take over from David Cameron. He wanted, he said, to make the most of the opportunity the leadership contest offers to move the party to a more robust, right-wing position.
As they walked across the estate for another vote, MPs wondered who Paterson could have in mind as the ideal robust, right-wing leadership contender.
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