Last weekend, in answer to the question “What was the last book you read?”, Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick said A Tale of Two Cities. Lots to unpack there. First, some context: it was in the “quickfire questions” section of an interview in the Daily Mail, among the readers of which there may be one or two members of the Conservative party. Possibly even more. So, as a politics professional, Jenrick will have been focused on coming across well to them.

It’s tricky for him, though, because that’s not the same thing as coming across well in general. It’s not the wider public he’s courting. Nor even Tory voters. No, he has to appeal to a constituency of people who make those who merely vote Conservative seem like hand-wringing woke hipsters. This is a group that, only two years ago, confidently selected Liz Truss to be prime minister. Admittedly the only other item on the menu was Rishi Sunak, but that still looks like a perverse choice to anyone sensible. Sunak has many detractors but there’s only one of them who thinks Liz Truss was a better prime minister than him and that person’s name is Liz Truss.

Nevertheless it’s this group whose support Jenrick must obtain, while at the same time remaining relatively plausible to everyone else because, if he wins, he’ll eventually need some of their votes too. You can’t go too mad and start advocating shooting dogs for urinating against war memorials or putting actors in prison for mumbling on........

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