Liz Truss: Conservative Party leader today, prime minister tomorrow. Her accession to lead the Tories was announced this afternoon at London. On Tuesday, she meets Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle to “kiss hands” as the queen’s first minister.

And so Ms. Truss has reached the summit of Benjamin Disraeli’s “greasy pole.” As Dizzy’s semi-official biography states, “No one realized better than he how difficult it would be to maintain himself in that precarious  elevation.”

Few, if any, more than the outgoing premier, Boris Johnson. Who would have thought that a mere three years after his stunning 80-seat victory in December 2019, BoJo would be out of office and disappeared down Downing Street?

Mr. Johnson is an avid student of Roman history, but perhaps he should have given the Greeks some thought, too, especially on the topic of “hubris.”

A recent Ipsos poll discloses that of post-World War II leaders, “49 per cent of the public believe he did a bad job.” That two former Tories of indifferent accomplishment, Theresa May at 41 percent and David Cameron at 38 percent, outperformed him, only adds insult to injury.

Rumors swirl around Westminster that Mr. Johnson is only biding his time. He believes that his successor will be unable to match his popular appeal and that the party, in a desperate effort to remain in power, will unceremoniously terminate Ms. Truss’s tenure and beg Boris to return to lead them back to glory.

Surely this brings to mind Marx’s observation about the farce of second acts. Not since Sir Winston Churchill’s return to the Conservatives after decamping to the Liberals has such effrontery been entertained. Churchill himself knew the lure of a good line, saying, “Anyone can rat, but it takes a certain amount of ingenuity to re-rat.”

Therein lies the rub. Tories remain in thrall to charms of Mr. Johnson that have worn thin in the rest of the population. He leaves both Ms. Truss and his party a poisoned chalice. Even Mr. Johnson was, given the obstinacy of his pride, ignorant of the danger of its dregs.

Thus, a certain amount of willful blindness has beguiled Britons and Tories foremost, about the true source of their plight. The Conservative government has a lot for which to answer. Much of the country’s conundrum lies at its feet — too many “own goals” and “unforced errors” to warrant their continuation in office.

Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, brought about by Covid lockdowns and furlough spending. An energy crisis caused by commitments to go “carbon neutral” and switch from reliable fossil fuels in favor of the whims of wind and solar power.

No less critical are the unchecked migrant crossings in the English Channel and the assault upon British culture by the bureaucrats, academics, and activists in service of “woke” social upheaval. A war in Ukraine, too, where the loss of lives and resources demands immediate peaceful resolution.

Only the prospect of worse to come — a Labor ministry, supported by the Scottish Nationals and Liberal Democrats — can save the Tories from the fate they deserve. Think the Conservatives bollixed things up? You haven’t seen anything, lest Labor gains control.

Two things alone give any prospect of hope. First, as these various disasters are “man-made” — am I wrong to suppose that women want to claim no share of this snafu? — man can fix them. Were he so disposed. And don’t underestimate the capacity of Tories to make a bad situation still worse.

Second, if nothing else, this prolonged leadership race gave the Conservative grassroot membership a primer that politicians are there to serve the public. At this critical time, will that empowerment be permitted to shuffle off the stage? All Britons should be awakened to the awesome responsibilities endowed by political rights.

To paraphrase the 17th-century English republican, Algernon Sidney, with the obvious substitutions for Sidney’s censures against the “king” — “If disagreements happen between government and people, why is it a more desperate opinion to think the government should be subject to the censures of the people, than the people subject to the will of the government? 

“Did the people make the government, or the government make the people?” 

That this Jacobite feels at liberty to quote Algernon Sidney is testament to the dire prospects ahead, if the drift continues unchecked.

And so all eyes are upon the third woman in history to lead the Conservative Party. More than the fate of her party rests upon her shoulders. No less than the future of the United Kingdom lies with Ms. Truss and the Tories. God help them.

BrexitDiarist@gmail.com