Whoever wins the Tory leadership race faces a growing list of problems

Sean O’Grady looks at what’s piling up in the No 10 in-tray

Larry is too busy to help the next prime minister (AP)

Kemi, Penny, Rishi, Liz, Tom... are you really sure you want to be prime minister? By the time you succeed Boris Johnson, on 5 September or earlier, many of the problems plaguing the nation may have turned critical. Indeed, so pressing are these challenges that the “caretaker” Johnson administration may be forced into taking consequential decisions during what is often erroneously dismissed as the “silly season”. So here, new prime minister, is what is piling up in your in-tray.

Cost of living crisis

This is likely to intensify as the months drag on and the stasis in government means little additional help is forthcoming. Inflation may become increasingly entrenched in the economy as the war in Ukraine shows no sign of abating, while the continuing effects of post-pandemic supply disruption, alongside those of Brexit, will continue to push costs up for months and years to come.