In an earlier televised Tory leadership debate, Boris Johnson was mocked for failing to turn up.

The Conservatives will soon be electing their new leader, the third in five years, and will certainly become the Prime minister.

According to commentators and pundits, former Mayor of London and foreign secretary Boris Johnson is set to win. But he is not having his own way. Fellow cabinet members Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove at the time of writing seem very determined to stop him. Sajid Javid is also in the running, but do any of them actually deserve to win? The candidates all have very dubious records in office, yet they expect the party’s members to vote for any of them.

We are in the middle of arguably the worst Conservative-led government in recent memory, with former PM Theresa May repeatedly hit by one crisis after another, particularly over how they handled the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.

Despite recent heavy losses in both the local council and EU elections leading to a significant loss of support, there is still a perception, both in the media and the general public, that a Labour government led by left-winger Jeremy Corbyn would be a lot, lot worse. Voters simply don’t trust him, and even the mere mention of his name seem to have put even Labour voters off voting for them.

For now, having to fight a general election is the least of the Conservatives’ worries. The new leader, when elected, will still have to deal with the much-delayed EU withdrawal agreement.