Iain Dale: The Tory two need to be grilled on much more than just solving Brexit

It’s a pity the two candidates are not going head-to-head at these hustings, like Davis and Cameron did in 2005
In the spotlight: Iain Dale looks on as leadership favourite Boris Johnson holds court at the hustings in Birmingham on Saturday
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Iain Dale24 June 2019

"Oh Christ,” I thought, “this could go very wrong.” That was my immediate reaction when I heard about the events in a Camberwell flat in the early hours of Friday morning .

I had been asked to compere 10 of the 16 leadership hustings organised by the Conservative Party and the first one was due to take place in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon. Knowing I would be doing this, I had been careful over the previous few weeks not to express any preference for which candidate I would favour to lead the Tories. It was important to be seen as an impartial interlocutor by both of the final two candidates, and it still is. But how do you balance asking one about a domestic row in his private life with asking the other about, well... what?

There has been a debate since then about whether I should have even asked Boris Johnson about his private life , let alone persist with the line of questioning for five minutes. I’ll leave others to come to a judgment on that, but, in a way, it proves the worth of these hustings.

Not long ago I wrote in these pages that it was vital that there was no “coronation” and that the two candidates should be tested through several weeks of hustings and interviews. Saturday’s hustings proved me right. Forget the initial question to Johnson — those watching the live feed on TV or on their phones would have seen both candidates tested on Brexit and all sorts of other issues. Given that they both had an hour to market themselves, I think we all learned a lot about their priorities. Jeremy Hunt committed to reducing interest rates on student loans, while Boris Johnson made clear that he would dramatically boost police numbers and housebuilding.

However, although I imagine around 15,000 Tory members will attend these 16 hustings, most won’t and will be reliant on broadcasters to host live debates. While both candidates will be spending their time criss-crossing the country talking to Tory members, it’s not just a Tory leader who is being elected — a prime minister is being appointed. The rest of the country wants to see the colour of their money as well. It may not have a vote in who emerges victorious in this contest but it’s in both candidates’ interests to engage as much as possible with the media.

Boris Johnson dodges questions about police presence at his home

Of course, the candidate in the lead is always encouraged by his media advisers not to take risks, and similarly the underdog candidate will always make clear that he’s up for it any time, any place, anywhere. Let’s remember the last time a potential prime minister was kept under wraps and not allowed to do interviews. That was Theresa May in the 2017 general election, and the strategy didn’t work too well, did it? The bare minimum is that all candidates should do head-to-head debates and one to one interviews on the BBC, Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and of course LBC.

It’s a pity in some ways that the two candidates are not going head to head at the hustings, like David Davis and David Cameron did in 2005. The Conservative Party Board and the 1922 Committee decided that Hunt and Johnson should go on, one after the other. I understand why. It looked at one point that the final two might have been Boris Johnson v Michael Gove. For the media, that would have been a gift to those who love blue-on-blue Tory psychodramas. I remember in 2005 the two Davids really got to know each other during this process, to the point where if one told a good joke at a particular hustings, the other would steal it for the next one. It almost became a competition and a bit of male bonding took place. That won’t happen at these hustings because the two candidates will barely meet.

This is a pity for one less than obvious reason. What happens to the second- placed candidate when the other wins? One currently holds the post of Foreign Secretary, the other used to. If Johnson wins, does he keep Hunt in post? If Hunt wins, what does he offer his rival? Having been foreign secretary, Johnson would surely be entitled to one of the other great offices of state. It is feasible to imagine Hunt as chancellor of the exchequer, given his pro-business and entrepreneurial agenda. The slight problem is that there is a queue for the post, with Gove, Liz Truss and Sajid Javid all staking their claims.

Whoever the new chancellor is, it’s without doubt the most important appointment the new prime minister will make. We need someone to think the unthinkable. To be radical. Whatever the outcome of Brexit, it won’t be business as usual for the economy, and we don’t need a “business as usual” chancellor.

There are 15 more hustings to go. I’m chairing nine of them. I will use the time to try to test both contenders about all sorts of policy areas. Yes, Brexit will be a topic at each of them but we need to get into the nitty-gritty of economic reform, improving life chances through education, how to build enough houses, the conflict between the desire for economic growth and lower immigration, and lots more besides.

Iain Dale presents the evening show on LBC Radio