The first 36 hours of Andrea Leadsom’s wooing of the Conservative Party membership have not been encouraging. For anyone who wanted a serious contest between equals for the post of prime minister at a time of constitutional crisis and deep economic uncertainty, they have been dismaying.

Mrs Leadsom entered the final stretch of the Tory leadership contest notable for her lack of cabinet experience and fielding serious and legitimate questions about the veracity of her CV. In her first substantial interview since eliminating Michael Gove from the running, in The Times today, she needed to show judgment and a grasp of detail. She showed neither. Worse, she appeared gratuitously callous towards her vastly more experienced rival, and blind to political reality.

She has sought to