The Tory leadership race has already started – but I wouldn’t write off Boris Johnson just yet

Though it still feels unlikely that the prime minister will be toppled before Christmas, the sound of knives sharpening has been getting louder around Westminster, writes Marie Le Conte

‘Johnson was only picked because he could keep the Conservatives up in the polls’ (PA)

A fortnight really is a long time in politics. At the end of November, I toyed with the idea of writing a column about the Conservative leadership contest that is bound to happen at some point. “Of course, no one is suggesting anything will happen anytime soon”, I was going to write; “Johnson is, after all, still reasonably safe in No 10”. What a fortnight it has been.

Though it still feels unlikely that the prime minister will be toppled before Christmas, the sound of knives sharpening has been getting louder around Westminster. Johnson was, after all, only ever picked because he could keep the Conservatives up in the polls – with the Labour Party now having its highest lead over the government since 2014, MPs are getting jittery.

Still, his saving grace – for now – may well be that the parliamentary party simply does not know who it is, or what it wants. Take Liz Truss: there was a story in the Mail on Sunday the other week about red wall MPs having created a WhatsApp group (since deleted) called “Liz For Leader”.