There was a certain inevitability to the outbreak of Tory leadership campaigning over the Christmas holidays. After Theresa May announced that she would stand down as party leader before the next general election as the price of winning the support of her MPs in last month’s vote of confidence, a scramble among those who fancied their chances was bound to ensue. Even so, the wretched display of political posturing over the past few weeks by an unimpressive parade of hopefuls was not only premature but possibly counterproductive.

The most egregious offender was Jeremy Hunt, who declared before Christmas that Britain would “flourish and prosper” if it walked away from the European Union with no deal. He promptly backtracked two weeks later. The foreign secretary reappeared