And the economy will play a decisive role as Britain goes to the polls

At the heart of Jeremy Hunt's leadership pitch is the idea that no deal, as proposed by his rival Boris Johnson, must be avoided at all costs, because it will trigger a general election that would annihilate the Conservative Party. It is certainly very popular with a lot of Tory MPs, and Mr Hunt is not the only leadership hopeful to hold such a position (Matt Hancock for one).

But if a general election is so unthinkable then why are so many of the candidates throwing up the kind of policy ideas that would only make sense in a Conservative campaign manifesto? So far, we have heard proposals for huge tax cuts for those on upper middle incomes, and the abolition of VAT and its replacement by a sales tax, as well as pledges of new extra house building. Given that the Conservatives, in coalition with the DUP, have a notional majority counted on the fingers of one hand, the chances of getting any of these policies through Parliament must be approximately zero.

Instead, it seems rather as if — Hunt aside, the “Vote for me for no General Election” candidate — most Tory leadership contenders feel going to the ballot box is only a matter of time, even if they are not willing to admit it yet. If so, they’re right.