Boris Johnson stepped aside because the Tories elect their leaders properly – Labour could learn a lesson

With the humiliation of Boris, the Conservative Party has begun its process of healing – and Michael Gove has already shown the one quality all Prime Ministers need

Boris Johnson pictured the day before he withdrew from the Tory leadership contest (Getty Images)

Today the Conservative Party continued its long tradition of forcing the heir apparent to surrender ambition to the cold reality of success. Boris Johnson just didn’t have the votes to be the next Prime Minister. He had lost the respect of his colleagues, who rounded on him in emphatic fashion since his surprise declaration for the Leave campaign a matter of mere weeks ago. Boris gambled it all – and he lost.

Whisper it gently but, with the humiliation of Boris, the Conservative party has now begun its process of healing.

It may not seem like that, but look a little more closely. David Cameron can claim the lion’s share of the credit by virtue of his quick resignation. By accepting responsibility for the outcome of the EU vote, he unburdened his successor from having to own the failure.

The wounds caused by the recent referendum have now been, if not cauterised, then soothed. Theresa May’s pitch for the party leadership is a case in point. Her unity candidate credentials burnished by the presence of the pro-Leave Chris Grayling as her campaign chair, she made it clear that the election of the next Tory leader is not a question of Leave or Remain, but of “plan or no plan”.

Her performance in declaring her candidacy was formidable. In a single speech, May sent clear messages to the market – there will be no early general election or hasty renegotiation with the EU – and to the party faithful – there will be no “wiggling out” of the commitment to have more control over immigration.

She cut the figure of a Prime Minister in waiting; she is now almost certain to be on the final ballot of two put to Conservative Party members.

Michael Gove has not had the chance to set out his stall as anything other than the ‘not Boris’ candidate. Yet he’s already shown the one quality that all Prime Ministers need: the ability to seize a moment. It is a necessary hubris.

Andrea Leadsom and Stephen Crabb have both shown a similar desire to grip events, but neither have the star power of Gove or May. I count no one out, but at present it looks like heading towards a clean fight between Michael Gove and Theresa May.

In contrast, however, Labour is staring into the abyss. The politics of Jeremy Corbyn aren’t about winning, but purity. His goal clearly isn’t a Labour government, but a Labour party unsullied by compromise.

He stands as master of a political genocide that now appears inevitable. The mass resignation of the Shadow Cabinet was not an act of strength or unity, but of survival; they are running from electoral oblivion.

The manner in which Corbyn has sought to handle his recalcitrant party is telling: according to his own MPs he has “bullied” them and “ignored” their concerns. Someone should remind the Labour leader that, as Martin Amis wrote, “style is not neutral, it gives moral direction”. Quite.

Both major parties are in the process of deciding their futures. For the Tories it is a case of which one; for Labour it is whether they have one at all.