The Conservative Party leadership contest last month is not the last we will see of Rory Stewart. Just yesterday Stewart tweeted that he would be holding audiences at the Penrith Show for the next two and a half hours with the hashtag #RoryWalksOn. Empowered by the chattering class, Stewart will no doubt use his time on the backbenches to challenge the next prime minister and prepare for another tilt at the top job.

Roderick James Nugent "Rory" Stewart perfectly embodies a pernicious strand within Tory opinion: paternalistic, smug, and rudderless. There is nothing new or modernising about this approach. Similar tactics defined the Conservatives in the pre-Thatcher era, when the party worked cheek by jowl with Labour on the managed decline of Britain’s global status and economy.

Stewart represents a position in the ongoing battle for the soul of the Conservative Party. On the one side, there are those who, in the spirit at Margaret Thatcher, are optimistic for Britain and promote a clear plan for prosperity based on proven free market principles. On the other side, there are those who think they are better than the rest of us and should therefore have the right to dictate how we live our lives.