The first round of voting in the Conservative leadership election has delivered a morale-boosting start to Boris Johnson’s campaign. Not only did he top the ballot by a mile, but he also passed a crucial milestone along the way.
The magic number of votes, that crucial milestone, was 105, and Boris surpassed it significantly with 114.
Why was the number 105 so significant? Because, 105 is just over one third of the 313 Conservative MPs who can vote. So, unless Boris does something really stupid between now and the final ballot of MPs (and that is certainly possible), he will keep, and he hopes increase, that number of MPs. And no amount of tactical voting by the rest of the MPs can keep him off the final list of two candidates put before the wider membership, a ballot many think he’s already won.
The Boris bandwagon is truly rolling. The biggest threat of a wheel coming off the campaign now, is not from one of his rivals, but from Boris himself.