READERS of the Worst of Westminster can be assured that I have a foolproof plan to work out when the General Election is.
Rishi Sunak has been awfully evasive on the topic – but I’ve worked out how we can get the answer.
This week, he ruled out an election on May 2. But that still leaves us with four more Thursdays in the month on which an election could be held – another 34 for the rest of the year.
Of these 34, we can pretty much rule out December. Even someone as detached from grassroots politics as Sunak knows his vote will do a Kate Middleton and vanish into thin air if he calls an election in the winter.
All we need to do is see which Thursdays out of the remainder the PM will rule out (this can be achieved with a little concerted effort), et voila, we have our date. Simple as.
If the matter strikes you as trivial, that’s because it is. MPs like to amuse themselves with these sorts of mental exercises and much of the press is happy to indulge it as well.
READ MORE: Speaker demonstrated institutional racism with Diane Abbott snub, says Humza Yousaf
So long as they get a good photo op of some Labour activists dressed as chickens to fill a picture slot in the paper.
Despite the fact the ability to call an election is one of the powers solely entrusted to the Prime Minister, backbench MPs of all stripes can’t help themselves from pondering the great mystery of exactly when Sunak will be booted out of office.
They talk of little else these days in the Palace of Westminster. One of the other main topics of conversation is the treatment of Diane Abbott during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Keir Starmer – hardly Abbott’s best mate – used the alleged racist and violent comments about her by a top Tory donor to wound Sunak at the despatch box.
A feeble-sounding Sunak said the alleged comments were “racist” and “wrong” - something he repeated to Stephen Flynn when the matter was brought up.
While three men discussed her, Abbott stood up 46 times to call the Speaker’s attention. She was ignored 46 times.
It’s left the Speaker with even less goodwill than when the week began. He is unpopular with staff and increasingly disliked by MPs.
Some say they can’t see how he could possibly hang on. But they underestimate how much he appears to be able to ignore to hold on to the trappings of office he so plainly loves.
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