Barry I agree. It’s got nothing to do what’s right for the country, it’s all about the media. I am watching them though because I like making my own mind up about things. It reminds me of shows like Jeremy Springer shows and I’m not enjoying them at all. All it’s doing is confirming my views regarding the media.
Its to appeal to the more modern folks, social media is the platform for politics now , who tweets what ,you only had to look at when BJ was ousted and the mob waiting outside no10 were all on their mobiles for that little bit of tittle tattle .
Caricature yup that as well. All the interviews they do are geared to get the interviewer to be talked about, they want to be the one who got the ‘gothcha moment’. I find it all really depressing.
More than ever now they are in the spotlight, every thing said and done as a consequence down the line, BJ is testament to that . Who appeals to the modern voter Starmer or one of those on show at the moment, policies will take a back seat imo.
What’s that, Starmer has a policy! Crikey, he kept that quiet… 
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One of those on show needs to be media savvy to the younger voter imo,
Although the TV debates are public, the UK electorate has no role in determining the winner of the Tory leadership contest. That decision will be made by a very small number of people:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01366/
This House of Commons Library briefing paper sets out the current rules for election of a Conservative Party leader, and the background to their introduction.
The leader of the Party must be a sitting MP.
Conservative Party leadership elections consist of two stages:
Stage 1 – Conservative MPs (358) choose two candidates to put forward to stage two.
Stage 2 – Party members (160,000, or about 0.3% of the total UK electorate) are balloted. The candidate with the most votes wins.
Stage 1
The rules and procedures for stage 1 of a leadership election are determined by the Executive of the 1922 Committee in consultation with the Conservative Party Board. This will include how an MP can be validly nominated.
The rules are not in a publicly available document. Each time a leadership election is held the chair of the 1922 Committee will announce the rules to be followed and the timetable.
If there are more than two candidates the field is whittled down. This will usually involve a series of ballots, depending on the number of candidates. If multiple ballots are required, the candidate(s) with the lowest vote is/are eliminated and MPs are re-balloted until only two candidates remain.
In the event of only one candidate being successfully nominated they become leader of the Party. However, they may be subject to a vote of Party members to ratify the result.
Stage 2
The two MPs selected in stage 1 face a ballot of Party members. This is done on the basis of one member one vote. The candidate who receives the most votes wins.
The winner of the membership ballot will be announced on Monday 5 September.
Personally, I don’t see the point of the alleged “debates” if only 358 people are eligible to make a choice of 2 from the contenders. All of those 358 know the contenders and their political stances.
As we’ve seen, all that the TV debates have achieved in the public domain is to disclose what an appalling collection of mud-slinging, backstabbing Tories are available to become the political leader of this country.
What the Tory party membership make of the performances is, so far, not known.
What is the average Tory member like?
Like members of the other major parties, Tories tend to be older, more middle class and more white than the rest of the population.
Professor Tim Bale, head of Queen Mary University of London and Sussex University Party Members Project, says: "The people who get to choose our next prime minister are far from being representative of voters as a whole.
"They’re not as diverse ethnically; they’re heavily concentrated in the south of England; there are significantly more men than women; they’re generally better off; and, although they’re not quite as elderly as some imagine (on average they’re actually in their late 50s even if four-in-10 are over 65), they’re still relatively old.
“In short, what political scientists call ‘the selectorate’ looks pretty different to the electorate.”
According to the most recent research by Prof Bale’s team, from January 2020:
- 63% of Conservative Party members are male, and 37% female
- 6% are under 24-years-old, 36% are aged 25 to 49-years-old, 19% are aged between 50 and 64-years-old, and 39% are over 65
- 24% backed Remain in the EU referendum, and 76% backed Leave
- 56% live in London and the south-east of England, 18% in the Midlands and Wales, 20% in the north of England and 6% in Scotland
- 80% belong to the highest social economic groups known as ABC1
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Thank goodness the leaders debate that was supposed to be on Sky on Tuesday has been cancelled, because two of the contenders have refused to take part and I don’t blame them.
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Yes … Good News:
It comes amid concerns in the Tory party about infighting in the contest.
The announcement follows Sunday’s heated debate on ITV, which laid bare divisions between Mr Sunak, Ms Truss and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt over how to run the economy.
Sunak and Truss clashed repeatedly during a debate on Sunday over each other’s economic plans and record in office.The five remaining candidates face another round of voting among Tory MPs later to stay in the race.
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Hear hear … 
Same here, Barry. Sick of hearing about this lot.
They only say things they think we want to hear anyway, not what they will really intend.
I’ve watched the ITV “Debate” - it was toe-curlingly bad
I think ITV presented it more like a “Gladiators” game show than a serious political debate - and the way Candidates were allowed to ask other contenders loaded questions - and the questions weren’t even fairly distributed - when most of the candidates piled on to Rishi, I guess it was because as he has the most votes and they want to bring him down - then Julie Etchingham expected him to reply in one brief soundbite - the Candidates were not allowed enough time to answer some of the implied criticisms and allegations within the questions they were asked - JE was already talking over them before they’d finished their sentence and moving on to the next one, while the previous “sly allegation” was left hanging the air.
The format just encouraged the Candidates to have a dig at each other and they weren’t allowed time to expand on any points of discussion,
It was interesting to see how each member dealt with it and which one got in the most digs, whilst professing to want to run a positive campaign, though.
I do not understand why any of the Candidates agreed to televised debates, when the Candidates are not standing for a public election - why would they want to expose the division within the Tory Party with this public in-fighting? - we know there is division and differences of opinion on some policies but these debates are just highlighting it.
I don’t think the debates have done the tarnished image of the Tory Party any favours.
They are politicians @Mups and all politicians lie, even to themselves sometimes, so I guess voting is all about who’s lies you disbelieve the least… 
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I think its great that the Tory party allowed Joe Soap to see the state the
party is in and the types of candidates participating ??
All this discord would normally be hidden from the public !!
Donkeyman! 
@ Boot Sod the Tory party !!
Donkeyman! 
Latest Tory leadership results due at 20:00 BST
The latest round of voting by Conservative MPs for their new leader is about to close
BST =bull shite time .
I wasn’t surprised that Tom Tughendhat dropped out in this round of voting.
I was surprised to see the results,as I didn’t think Rishi Sunak would have picked up many extra votes from Suella Braverman’s supporters.
Rishi Sunak gained 14 votes while Kemi Badenoch gained nine and Liz Trussgained seven. Meanwhile, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat both dropped a vote.
Sunak is only five votes off of a guaranteed place in the postal vote to the wider Conservative party.
Truss will be disappointed to have only taken seven of Suella Braverman’s votes – especially as Braverman publicly backed Truss after being eliminated– while Badenoch will be pleased to be gaining on her rival on the right.
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No real surprises:
Badenoch will go next.
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Oh we are so doomed 
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