Heseltine was highly intelligent, highly competent, and highly electable.

Only one of those factors is valued by the current party and, depressingly, by their followers.

Funny because after Thatcher went, the Tories got boring and lost the election.

That is what he helped achieve.

Similarly, he and his like minds have got rid of Johnson, and now the Tories are likely to throw away a huge majority.

That is what his genius has achieved for his party.

The man is a self serving scumbag.

But an improvement on the present 'Running scared' incumbent of No 10.

Not just you Owen. All those, usually on the right, who apply that lazy attack on Corbyn which I do not think is supported by fact. Indeed, I consider it odd that this is the standard stick of choice when there are much better sticks out there!

On your main point, it is impossible to disagree. I imagine there are plenty of well meaning politicians whose only desire is to do best for all. They sit quietly on the back benches and loyally serve the needs of their constituents.

However, to get any portfolio that is not nearly enough. You must have ambition and drive and that killer instinct. Primacy is given to self-service, service of party, service of dogma or any other service that is not serving us. They are the privileged, entitled dung sacks thrust before a mic to manfully defend the indefensible.

That is all we see. That is how we judge. Who would not be cynical?

I agree. Heseltine is not Thatcher. She was a polarizing force of nature who I both admire and detest in equal measures. He was clever, commercially and politically astute and loyally served his country and party for many years. Bizarre, therefore, that he has become such a target of hate for the alt right because he is a committed Europhile.

Johnson, meanwhile, was a useful tool for the party. Overwhelmingly remain, the Tories did what the party always does. It adapted and redefined itself as the party of Brexit. It thrust a populist, educated idiot to the forefront as we all love cuddly Boris. And the ploy worked. The public fell for it hook, line and sinker.

However, while in power, did you not notice that his minders didn't let him breath a word that was not scripted. He simply wasn't up to it. He was never a statesman and he was never likely to be given long. The moment the electable task was complete, out he went. Thus, spare some pity for a political pawn; but spare us the description of him as a tragic hero destroyed by the Men in Grey who lurk behind the shadows.

That said, BJ made it very easy. Thatcher herself would have been brought down by the acts that toppled BJ. However. that was not Heseltine. He would not have had Boris (and definitely not Truss) any where near the top job in the first place! Those who gave were those who took away.

Both Heseltine and Thatcher had integrity. Something completely absent in Johnson. I despise the drift toward populism as any kind of substitute for responsible politics and am delighted to see it failing so quickly.

I hope the Tories regain their sense of decency and realise that their job isn't just to win elections. It's to serve us and if they don't we will dump them. It's taken too long for the electorate to wake up to the confidence trick that's been played on them, but they have. Now they must change and Heseltine has put his finger on it.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.