Tory members are deluded about Boris Johnson

For more than forty years, I have assumed that most Tory party members were the salt of the earth. They may not have banged on about civic virtue or active citizenship, but they practised both. They may not have been interested in political philosophy, but they could tell a good ‘un from a wrong ‘un. Alas, that era is over. Tens of thousands of them have decided that Boris Johnson ought to be Prime Minister. The salt has lost its savour. Many Tories can no longer tell the difference between it and strychnine.

Why has this happened? There are two explanations: May fatigue and Brexit fatigue. Among the poisonous bequests which Theresa May has left the Tories is a discrediting of the whole notion of competence. When she took over, it was expected that she would be dull, but competent. That was half right. Yet – an absurdity as well as a paradox – a large section of her party seems to have concluded from her failure that competence does not matter, as long as the new leader is funny.