Originally Posted by Damien

The Sky News Leadership Candidate debate has been cancelled: https://news.sky.com/story/sky-news-...l-out-12654286

That's disappointing. It was great fun watching them tear chunks out of each other. It was also quite interesting to see the performances against what people expected of them.

Sunak was pretty polished and accomplished, makes sense he was the front runner. Kemi Badenoch was probably the breakout candidate, talks very well and is well suited to debating. She would be a big problem for Labour if she got the job I think. Tugendhat was good but I can't see Tory Members picking him.

I have no idea why Truss is rated so highly. I thought she performed terribly and didn't have a grasp on the issues she was talking about when challenged on them. I think Thatcher really maintains a hold on the Tory mindset that anyone who can even be vaguely compared with her - i.e a middle-aged white woman running for the leadership from the right of the party - gets an instant boost.

The worst thing for the Tories in these debates is how the candidates talk as if they're in opposition. Talking of how they can't find a dentist or the state of the economy as if they haven't in charge for 12 years is going to cause some people to throw stuff at their television.