This is no way to pick a prime minister

‘Truss’s campaign to be Britain’s next prime minister,’ wrote one political commentator this week, ‘seems to have unstoppable momentum. She has won the backing of heavyweights Tom Tugendhat, Brandon Lewis and the Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi.’ Across a range of commentary you will see that word ‘momentum’ used in this sense in the weeks ahead. I am uncomfortable about what drives it.

You may realise that if I were still a member of the Conservative party I would be voting for Rishi Sunak this month. Of the two candidates he is plainly less likely to win. So you may well think my discomfort with the procedure by which Liz Truss has been pulling ahead is sour grapes. Perhaps it is – we are seldom the best judges of our own motives. But hear me out.

Assuming (if we should) that balloting the members of the contestants’ political party is the best way to choose a prime minister, I still think the process the Conservatives have adopted is defective in at least two respects. Firstly, it does not tell us the balance of the parliamentary party’s judgment as between the two finalists whose names are put to the members. Secondly, it allows the MPs to vote secretly, hide their support until it becomes apparent who is likely to win, then advise the national membership how to vote.

I have moderated many local Conservative selection meetings for a prospective parliamentary candidate. Up to four shortlistees are presented to members attending. The voting system proceeds in stages. First they can vote for any of these finalists. The candidate receiving the fewest votes then drops out, and the process is repeated until only two remain. These two names are put to the meeting, and somebody wins an absolute majority.