At long last, the Conservative leadership race is about to come to an end. After four months of hustings, debates and backroom deals, voting ends tomorrow in the Tory membership round. Yet despite the ballot closing at 5 p.m. Thursday, the result will then not be announced until late Saturday morning. It has got some in the party asking: why the delay? As one MP put it to Mr S:
It means we’re going to announce our new leader in an empty conference room on a weekend. No one’s going to be there!
The official line is that a two day gap was required so votes can be counted on Friday with the result then announced on the Saturday. The argument goes that the process takes time given postal votes need to be opened, checked and then added to electronic voting.
But there is another theory doing the rounds: was the 1922 chairman worried about missing out on Diwali – the Hindu festival which this year falls tomorrow on 1 November? The chairman Bob Blackman, sits for Harrow East, a seat which boasts a large Indian community.
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