Yet another Tory leadership contest is not the Christmas present the nation deserves

Editorial: Rumours in Westminster of a potential challenge to Rishi Sunak may come to nought – but the fact it is talked about at all is a sigh of a premiership in deep crisis

(Dave Brown)

The terminal decay of the Conservative government has been palpable for some time and the dramas and gyrations of recent days have demonstrated that the process is intensifying.

Since the start of the week, the prime minister has been attacked (again) by his former home secretary, Suella Braverman; suffered the resignation of his one-time close ally, the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick; found himself ridiculed in another combative performance by the Labour leader in the Commons; and tied his political fate to the doomed Rwanda plan to deport asylum seekers and “stop the boats”.

Quite the week in politics. No surprise, then, that the gossip about yet another leadership challenge has been swirling around Westminster. Like most such rumours, it may come to naught, but the very fact that it is being talked about at all is indicative of a premiership in crisis.