Farage’s victory mean the Tories will be led by a Brexiteer, not a compromiser | Martha Gill

Attention is turning to Michael Gove as a candidate now, but could we be in for a Gove-Johnson showdown?

The Conservatives didn’t drop to a 9% vote share in the European election without losing a chunk of voters to remain parties(there was a major swing to the Lib Dems), but they will hear only one message: they are under threat from Nigel Farage.

That message is probably correct. The Brexit party, which Farage formed only four months ago, has just won a national election, and it has done it on Tory territory. The Conservatives are also a Brexit party, but one at a considerable disadvantage: they are the dopes tasked with delivering the thing. As such, they have been entirely unable to capture its spirit, which is something naturally allergic to the practicalities of leaving Europe – purist, anti-institution and scornful of compromise. All this was rammed home to Tory MPs by the results, with the added reminder that the leave-remain split is not going away any time soon.

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from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Xb2KNi
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