Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy, has spoken on BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Kent, and BBC Radio 5 Live about how the race to be the next Conservative party leader and prime minister will play out over the ensuing weeks.
The programmes explored several areas, including the manner of Boris Johnson’s resignation, how the leadership contest process works, candidates’ motivations for standing, and their chances of winning.
Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire about what the public can expect from the process, Professor Catterall said: “I suppose if you’re a member of the Conservative party already, you might be among the 0.3% of the electorate who might finally have a say on who gets chosen out of the final two, but in the process over the next few weeks, we’re going to be having a kind of gladiatorial contest…for who gets knocked out over the ensuing battles and so on.
“But so far, they all sound very much the same which makes it quite difficult to see how MPs are going to actually make a decision over this. Not least because they all seem to be appealing not to other MPs but to the ultimate arbiters who are indeed that [Conservative] party membership.”
Speaking to Adrian Chiles on BBC Radio 5 Live about whether the timing of the leadership contest over the parliamentary summer recess period is positive because supposedly not a lot happens, Professor Catterall added: “There’s a lot the government arguably should be doing over things like the cost-of-living crisis so there’s lots of things that people probably would like them to be doing.
“There’s legislation going through…and there’s also of course this war going on [in Ukraine] so there are things that are happening, and having some certainty about those things might be better than having a situation where you’ve got a damaged prime minister because you lose credibility in such circumstances and any decisions which are taken could be rescinded by the successor… so again in those circumstances I think the politics is against retaining a caretaker prime minister for the interim.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Kent about whether it is usual for a prime minister to stay in post after they have resigned, as in the case of Boris Johnson, Professor Catterall commented: “The answer is extremely unusual. The only time I can think of a prime minister acting as a caretaker in any meaningful sense is Churchill at the end of the Second World War, when we were waiting for the results to come in from troops scattered all over the world.
“Prime ministers don’t tend to do that. You have had people who were effectively deputy prime ministers acting in the role of caretaker when you’ve had leadership elections such as when Macmillan was ill in hospital and Butler stepped into the role in 1963 but no prime minister has ever been given such a long goodbye as Boris Johnson has given himself.”
Listen to Professor Catterall’s full interview on 7 July 2022 on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Berkshire.
Listen to Professor Catterall’s full interview on 8 July 2022 on BBC Radio Kent.
Read Professor Catterall’s LSE blog post about the key aspects of the relationship between the constitution and Boris Johnson’s resignation.
