Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson on track to become PM as survey suggests 73 per cent of Tory members have backed him… Boria Johnson is on course for a landslide victory in the Tory leadership race, a survey reveals. The hot favourite is expected to clean up nearly three-quarters of votes from grassroots members. It raises the prospect of him entering 10 Downing Street this week with a huge mandate to deliver Brexit by the end of October. Mr Johnson has won the support of 73 per cent of those eligible to vote, according to an exclusive survey for The Sun on Sunday. The figures even suggest his fan base has increased during the four-week campaign in which he was pitched head-to-head with rival Jeremy Hunt 17 times. An ally said: “With every passing day it became clear that Boris was the candidate most likely to deliver Brexit on time – and the one much more likely to beat Jeremy Corbyn in a general election.” A victory on that scale will give BoJo a powerful hand as he reshapes the Cabinet and demands EU chiefs re-open talks about a Brexit deal. The online survey of Tory members was carried out by ConservativeHome over the last two days as the nationwide ballot was about to close. The number backing BoJo is up on website’s two previous polls, which put support for him at 67 per cent at the start of the campaign and 71 per cent at the midway point. An overwhelming 94 per cent of the 1,199 members who responded to the survey said they had already voted. Of those who haven’t, 65 per cent were for Mr Johnson and 35 per cent for Mr Hunt. – The Sun Johnson to deliver ‘overwhelming’ blow to Remainers in huge Brexit boost – Sunday Express …as hardcore Remainer Tory MPs refuse to pledge loyalty to him… A hardcore group of Remainer Tory MPs have told leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson that they will bring down his Government if he pursues a no deal Brexit. The Sunday Express can reveal details of Thursday’s stormy showdown, when rebellious Remainer MPs were called up to Boris Johnson’s office. The favourite to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister when the Conservative Party poll results are confirmed on Tuesday was laughed at when he demanded their loyalty. The meeting came shortly after MPs made a no-deal Brexit more difficult by blocking any suspension of Parliament – mooted as a way around MPs voting against no-deal and scuppering Brexit on October 31. However, key allies of Mr Johnson have today warned that Remainer Tories need to choose “between no-deal and Marxism”, accepting that if they block Mr Johnson’s attempts to deliver Brexit they will hand the keys to Downing Street to Jeremy Corbyn. The row broke out as new figures reveal that the cost of Britain being in the EU rose by 20.4 percent in the year to March 31, to £15.5billion after the rebate was deducted. Despite this, rebels pushing for a second referendum met Mr Johnson’s pleas for unity with defiance. One MP who attended the meeting told the Sunday Express: “I laughed when he said it. I mean, the chutzpah of the man. “He and the European Research Group showed no loyalty to Theresa May. They are the ones who stopped her deal getting through and stopped Brexit. So why should we show loyalty to him? – Sunday Express …while there is a secret EU drive to woo him into a Brexit compromise EU countries are secretly wooing Boris Johnson in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan that would avoid a no-deal disaster as he prepares to take over as prime minister this week. Senior Irish politicians and diplomats have held peace talks with two of Johnson’s cabinet allies in recent days. German and French figures, as well as the Dutch and Belgian governments, have also established contacts with Johnson’s team and signalled an intention to do a deal. In an article today for The Sunday Times, Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, indicates that Dublin is prepared to compromise. Geoffrey Cox, the attorney-general, who is helping to devise Johnson’s Brexit plans, met his Irish counterpart, Seamus Woulfe, and the Irish ambassador, Adrian O’Neill, last Monday and made clear that Johnson will pursue a no-deal Brexit unless the EU gives ground. James Brokenshire, a former Northern Ireland secretary, has also talked to Irish politicians. A source in Johnson’s transition team claimed the Irish are “rethinking their position”. Another suggested that the talks could pave the way for a bilateral deal with Dublin that would render the backstop irrelevant, although Irish sources downplayed that prospect. Ambassadors from Belgium and Holland last week met Andrea Leadsom, another senior Johnson ally, and signalled a desire to come to a new deal. Johnson is also being urged to invite the French president and the German chancellor for talks at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat. Johnson’s team are hoping to secure 60% or more of the vote when the results of the Conservative leadership contest are announced on Tuesday morning. – Sunday Times (£) Five EU countries in secret bid to ‘offer Boris Johnson a new Brexit plan to avoid no deal’ as Irish PM says, ‘let’s avert catastrophe’ – MailOnline Britain’s EU contribution rises by 20 per cent in year, as UK’s booming economy props up Brussels’ budget Britain’s contribution to the EU has shot up by £2.6 billion per cent in the past 12 months, new Treasury figures show, as the UK’s growing economy was used to prop up Brussels’ budget. An “eye-popping” £15.5 billion was sent across the Channel in the year ending March 31, compared with £12.9 billion the year before – an increase of 20 per cent. The extra money would be enough to put 50,000 more police officers on the streets or fund 81,000 social care beds. Brexiteers said the increase was yet more evidence that Britain must leave the EU as soon as possible to stop taxpayers’ money “pouring into bottomless EU coffers”. Treasury accounts published this week show that the increase in Britain’s contribution was driven by a rise in UK Gross National Income, which is used to calculate the largest part of the payment. It went up by £2.7bn, pushing the gross contribution to £20.3bn, which is reduced to £15.5bn net after the UK’s rebate of almost £5bn is deducted. – Telegraph (£) Irish Deputy PM hopes the backstop will be ‘unnecessary’ Ireland wants a relationship between the UK and EU that makes the so-called backstop unnecessary, the country’s deputy prime minister has said. Writing in the Sunday Times, Simon Coveney said he looked forward to working with the new UK prime minister, who takes office on Wednesday. But he said the withdrawal agreement reached between the UK and the EU was not up for renegotiation. He also said a no-deal Brexit would “devastate” Northern Ireland’s economy. The backstop, included in the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU, is designed as an insurance policy to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit. But this deal was rejected three times by MPs in the Commons, with the backstop a key sticking point among Brexiteers. The two men vying to become the next prime minister, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, have said the backstop is “dead” – a position seen as increasing the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. In his article, Mr Coveney seeks to reassure MPs critical of the measure that he hopes it will not be necessary. – BBC News Brexit Secretary says business chiefs have a ‘go-slow’ mentality over No Deal preparations Business chiefs are on a ‘go-slow’ mentality over a no-deal preparations, a Cabinet Minister has warned. Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay says planning needs to be ramped-up as senior colleagues continue to undermine government efforts. He says there must be a “step change” in ensuring firms and the public are ready for the legal default exit date of October 31. It follows MPs backing a bid to stop the next PM suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal scenario. Four Cabinet Ministers including Philip Hammond and 17 Tory MPs abstained in the vote to suspend Parliament Mr Barclay said: “Until we have passed a deal, it’s crucial that the government continues to prepare for a no deal Brexit. “It has been under-priced by many, and a step change in communicating this needs to be one of the first priorities of the new Prime Minister. It’s the responsibility of the Government to prepare for everything it can control, but it is equally important that businesses and third parties ensure they are ready for any potential changes they may need to adapt to. The new Prime Minister needs to urgently ramp up the Government’s communications effort with a national drive to explain any changes to minimise disruption.” – The Sun David Gauke vows to quit government if Johnson becomes Prime Minister… David Gauke announces today that he will resign from the cabinet on Wednesday because he cannot serve under Boris Johnson while he is pursuing a no-deal Brexit that would bring national “humiliation”. The justice secretary said he would hand his resignation letter to Theresa May after prime minister’s questions rather than wait to be fired when her successor takes over. “If the test of loyalty to stay in the cabinet is a commitment to support no-deal on October 31 — which, to be fair to him, Boris has consistently said — then that’s not something I’m prepared to sign up to,” he said. “I recognise that this spell in government is coming to an end. Given that I’ve been in the cabinet since Theresa May came to power, I think the appropriate thing is for me to resign to her.” Gauke questioned Johnson’s “confidence” that there is a “one in a million” chance of a no-deal departure from the EU. Gauke said: “I think there’s very little chance of having a deal agreed and the parliamentary stages completed by October 31. I think there is little to no chance and the likelihood is that it’s at the bottom end of that spectrum.” – Sunday Times (£) David Gauke vows to quit as justice secretary if Boris Johnson wins race to be prime minister – Independent …but Brexiteer Priti Patel is tipped for a comeback in a Johnson Government Priti Patel is being considered for a shock cabinet return as home secretary, The Independent has learned, as Boris Johnson seeks to convince the public he is not a “British Donald Trump”. The controversial Brexiteer – sacked for misleading Theresa May over secret meetings with Israeli politicians – is poised to be among early supporters of the likely new prime minister to be rewarded. They are also likely to include Iain Duncan Smith, another polarising right-winger, who is expected to land the crucial job of chief whip, as Mr Johnson wrestles with his lack of a Commons majority. The top cabinet jobs could be announced as early as Wednesday – within hours of Mr Johnson entering No 10 – if his success triggers resignations by ministers fighting the no-deal Brexit he has threatened. Explaining why advisers are urging him to send Ms Patel, whose family were Ugandan Indians, to the home office, one source said it would be a “clear statement to the British public that Boris will not be a British version of Donald Trump”. It would also ensure a woman in a prominent post. – Independent Sir Keir Starmer seeks alliance against no-deal Brexit with Tory ex-ministers Labour will seek immediate talks with Tory ministers who resign from the government on Wednesday – including the chancellor, Philip Hammond – in the hope of building a cross-party alliance to prevent Boris Johnson from embracing a no-deal Brexit. The plans, revealed to the Observer by shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, underline the extent of opposition the probable next prime minister will face from across the House of Commons if he fails to negotiate a new Brexit deal that can pass through parliament by late autumn. Johnson, firm favourite to win the Tory leadership contest on Tuesday and enter No 10 the following day, has promised to deliver Brexit on 31 October come what may, which means he will be prepared to leave without a deal if necessary. But after MPs last week voted by a majority of 41 to make it more difficult for a new prime minister to force through no deal by shutting down parliament,further cross-party plans are being made to block that option. Starmer will approach Hammond and others, including the justice secretary, David Gauke, for talks on how to prevent no deal this week. Writing in today’s Observer, Starmer says parliament must be put on a “war footing” to prevent a no-deal outcome, with party allegiances put aside in the national interest. – Observer UK shut out of EU key cyber security meeting British diplomats in Brussels have been shut out of a key EU meeting to discuss cyber security even though the UK has not left the bloc — a sign of tensions to come should London get another Brexit negotiating extension. Tim Barrow, Britain’s head diplomat in Brussels, on Friday wrote a letter of complaint to the European Council’s top civil servant protesting at British officials being “disinvited” from an EU28 meeting on the bloc’s cyber standards on June 25. One of the items on the agenda was a discussion about how to protect Europe’s 5G networks amid concerns about the security risks posed by Chinese telecom supplier Huawei. In the letter, Sir Tim said the practice raised “questions and concerns in London with regards to the treatment and process around meetings at 27 and 28 during the current extension”. – FT(£) ‘The guardian of our democracy?’ The Electoral Commission put me through hell, says Darren Grimes Darren Grimes says he found out that he had been fined more money than he had in the world and referred to the police when he woke up one morning in July last year and switched on the radio. The Electoral Commission had concluded its third investigation into pro-Brexit Mr Grimes’s grassroots student campaign, BeLeave, which he had run from his bedroom in Brighton in 2016, when he was just 22. “I heard the pips of the Today programme and that’s the first thing they said, ‘Darren Grimes has been fined £20,000 and referred to the police’,” he recalls. The former Liberal Democrat campaigner from Co Durham then entered the worst year of his life. “The BBC got their press release before I had found out about it. My family had found out before I had a chance to speak to them and warn them,” he said. Mr Grimes and his lawyers say that the Electoral Commission had notified them and the media in the middle of the night. It had told Mr Grimes it proposed to fine him the previous month and allowed him to respond, but he first learnt of the final decision when he heard it on the radio. The commission decided that Mr Grimes had broken the electoral spending rules it was designed to regulate to ensure fair elections. It announced he would face the maximum fine it can impose: £20,000, because it deemed the money he had paid for online ads contributed towards the spending of the national Brexit campaign Vote Leave,pushing it over its limit of £7 million. In the coming weeks, Mr Grimes broke up with his boyfriend and was turned down for a job that he has a “sneaking suspicion” had something to do with the investigation. Some nights he stayed with friends to avoid the press at his home, and his mother and brother were followed by reporters and photographers questioning them. He describes the last year as “hell”. – Sunday Telegraph (£) Anti-Brexit People’s Vote campaign group dominated by Alastair Campbell and Lord Mandelson ‘is being ripped apart by bitter infighting’ The anti-Brexit People’s Vote campaign, which is calling for a second referendum on Europe, is being ripped apart by bitter infighting, it was claimed last night. One faction, including those who organised yesterday’s March For Change in Central London, are openly Remainers. But the other camp – dominated by former Labour spin doctors Alastair Campbell and Tom Baldwin, along with former Cabinet Minister Lord Mandelson – want to concentrate on securing a second referendum, the original reason for setting up the campaign. Emails leaked to The Mail on Sunday reveal a deep split. One source inside the coalition-style campaign claimed that regular meetings were being held behind the scenes by Baldwin and another official with Tony Blair and that the former Prime Minister had helped to raise between £2 million and £3 million. In an angry email on April 25 sent by six leading campaigners, including journalist Baroness Wheatcroft, to the leadership of the People’s Vote, they expressed extreme concern that separate camps had emerged at its Millbank HQ. They said: ‘There is almost no sign of the co-operation and unity that have made the People’s Vote campaign one of the most successful efforts in recent British political history.’ Writing before the European elections in May, they described the campaign as ‘not fit for purpose’. – Mail on Sunday Jacob Rees-Mogg: The new PM must peddle optimism as if he were a steroid-boosted cyclist trying to win the Tour de France “So much to do, so little time.” This famous quotation is the reality facing the new Prime Minister, which if the opinion polls are to be believed is going to be Boris Johnson. What will he need to do in the time available? The first task is dealing with Brexit and ensuring we leave on October 31. Failure to do so would damage the Conservative Party and make it unelectable. But, more seriously, it would harm the country not only by leaving us humiliated and weak but by denying us the opportunity of future prosperity outside the EU. As it would also increase the risk of allowing Jeremy Corbyn to become PM, the danger for the UK is severe. It is widely accepted it would be sensible to leave with an agreement and that will be the right ambition for a Johnson government. The current withdrawal agreement is defunct and there can be no question of any iteration of the Irish Backstop. This proposal would have left the UK subject to EU laws and regulations for an indeterminate period — which would be the epitome of a vassal state. Instead, the aim should be for a free trade agreement, a generous settlement of citizens’ rights and the payment of such debts as we genuinely owe but with an absolute cap. If the EU continues with its self-imposed insistence that it will not discuss trade until after we have left, then an interim agreement drawing on the principles of the GATT Article 24 could be necessary. To achieve such an agreement the Government must be tougher than its predecessor — which means preparing for No Deal at full pelt and reassuring sectors of the economy that could be hit that the £39billion saved by not making a payment to the EU would be used to help them. – Jacob Rees-Mogg MP for The Sun Simon Coveney: A different face in Downing Street but the same stark fact: no-deal Brexit will be a disaster for us all This week, a new prime minister takes office. As Britain’s closest neighbour, Ireland has a fundamental interest in a successful, prosperous UK. We will work closely with the new prime minister to advance our shared interests, notably safeguarding peace on our island — the single biggest achievement we share with successive British governments. The Good Friday agreement is an international agreement that supports peace and political stability in Northern Ireland and underpins relationships across our islands. As co-guarantors of the peace deal, it is the shared obligation of our two governments to protect it. On Wednesday, when the new prime minister takes office, there will be 100 days until the UK leaves the EU after 46 years of membership. The manner in which the UK decides to leave will take shape over that time. The decisions taken by the prime minister will impact the people of the UK and of Ireland. While the personality in Downing Street will change this week, the facts and complexity relating to Brexit remain the same. More than two years have gone into negotiating a fair withdrawal agreement to accommodate the UK’s red lines. It includes the backstop, which was designed jointly by the UK and the EU to provide guarantees to protect our shared interests in Northern Ireland. It’s about avoiding physical infrastructure at the border but also avoiding all related checks and controls, protecting north-south co-operation and the all-island economy. The backstop exists to protect the Good Friday agreement. This was understood by all parties, including the British government and the EU when they jointly agreed it. Ireland has had one red line since Brexit: nothing should be done to put at risk peace on the island of Ireland. – Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney for the Sunday Times (£) Sunday Times: This could be a sprint, not a marathon, Mr Johnson Mr Johnson’s first 100 days will take him from his meeting with the Queen on Wednesday to beyond the October 31 date for leaving the EU. He has committed himself to this departure date repeatedly during the leadership contest. Indeed, it has been his strongest card with Tory members. How he achieves that, or whether he can do so, will define his premiership and the future of his party. Those listening carefully to Mr Johnson over the past few weeks will have no idea of a plan other than to get us out by Halloween. Indeed well-informed reports suggest he has not yet settled on a final strategy. He has flirted with — and been exposed for his lack of detailed knowledge about — article 24 of the general agreement on tariffs and trade (Gatt). He has suggested that the chances of a no-deal Brexit are a million to one. He will not countenance the Irish backstop, even with a time limit — one avenue for a compromise with Brussels. It’s make-your-mind-up time. As we report today, there are some signs that the EU, and Ireland in particular, is prepared to offer him an olive branch. This means, however, focusing on the art of the possible as much as on the art of the deal. If Mr Johnson wants to leave the EU with an accord — the best outcome for the country and the Tory government — the new prime minister has to find a way of neutralising, not removing, the Irish backstop, probably through changes in the political declaration. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has hinted as much. The hard Brexiteer “no-dealers” would not like it, but may have to accept that leaving under what they would regard as a flawed agreement is better than not leaving at all. – Sunday Times (£) editorial John Penrose: My fellow ministers should come clean: does he want to stop Brexit? “Just answer the b****y question!” The heckler was a Conservative Party member, irritated at a candidate who wasn’t answering crisply enough at one of the leadership hustings. But it could have been anyone at home, yelling at the radio or the telly as yet another politician, from any party you care to name, twisted and turned to avoid giving a straight answer. On the scale of occupational karma, politicians rank somewhere below bankers and estate agents, and only just above pond life in public esteem. And if your response to that is to ask ‘hang on; which pond?’ you aren’t alone. Giving a straight answer to a straight question will matter more than ever this autumn, when the biggest Brexit question of all will crystallise at last. By then, it will be pretty clear whether we’re going to get a negotiated deal which Parliament and Brussels will both accept. That’s still the best and simplest way out but, if we don’t, the choice is suddenly very stark: either no deal, or no Brexit. The heckler will get his wish, because politicians will finally have to give straight answers: will you rescind article 50, or leave without a deal? There will be no hiding places, no fudge and no spin. It’s about time. After three years, politicians are running out of road. The public are royally fed up with the way squabbling legislators have let Brexit drag on.We’ve had indicative votes, meaningful votes, three different leaving dates and, next week, a new Prime Minister, but we’re still in limbo. People aren’t impressed. The elections in May were a punch to the political establishment’s stomach. A message that we need to get this done, or else. We aren’t there yet. Most people, including me, are somewhere in the middle: we think leaving the EU with a sensible deal is the best option, but we’d reluctantly accept ‘no deal’ if the negotiations collapse and it’s the only alternative to not leaving at all. That’s because, even though lots of us originally voted ‘remain’ in the referendum three years ago, we believe the country took a democratic decision and we’ve got a moral duty to honour it. The only question should be how we leave the EU, not if. But, of course, there are other people who see it differently. – John Penrose MP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) James Forsyth: Boris approaches The Great Decide on which way Brexit negotiations will turn Boris Johnson must make one of the most important calls of his premiership before he even sets foot in No10. He must decide what his Brexit plan is. I understand that even this weekend, there are different options in circulation. But he must make up his mind before Wednesday. On day one, calls with European leaders will begin —and Boris will have to know what he wants to tell them. As one of those preparing him for government puts it: “They’ll call him to say congratulations — and he’ll have to set out his stall.” This is crucial because the European Commission will refuse to negotiate with Boris’s government unless it is told to do so by the member states. I understand that when the Brexit Secretary, Steve Barclay, met Michel Barnier in Brussels last week, the EU’s chief negotiator insisted there couldn’t be any renegotiation — as the European Council hadn’t given the Commission a mandate for one and the terms of the extension preclude any changes to the deal. If Boris can get a deal and get Parliament to show its support for it by October 31 and get Britain out of the EU, he will have triumphed. He will be set fair for a general election next year that would likely deliver him a healthy majority. This weekend, Boris must decide which approach is most likely to get him there. To govern is to choose. – James Forsyth for The Sun Sunday Express: Theresa May’s greatest mistake was bid for compromise Theresa May gives her final interview as Prime Minister today to the Daily Express. She clearly leaves with many regrets and an overwhelming feeling that there was so much more she wanted to achieve. In the end she will be remembered as the prime minister handed what turned out to be an almost impossible job in trying to find a way in delivering a compromise Brexit. This perhaps was her one mistake. There is no compromise to be had with Brexit especially when you have a Parliament dominated by hardcore Remainers determined to thwart the majority will of the British people. Mrs May failed on the major issue of delivering Brexit but she also had many successes. Most of all though there have been few more decent and caring people to occupy Downing Street. Her passionate speech when she first became Prime Minister promising to tackle the burning injustices in society was a call to arms which her successor should follow. The fact that others – including the European Union – have not shown her willingness to compromise and find a way forward is more a reflection on their lack of humanity than her strength or otherwise. – Sunday Express editorial Tim Newark: Remainer MPs are betraying Britain’s democratic choice What on earth are senior Cabinet members doing? By trying to block any chance of a no-deal Brexit, they are denying the UK and our next prime minister the one weapon that would make the EU take us seriously in our next round of negotiations. No one wants to see Parliament prorogued, but if Remainer MPs continue to betray the referendum result, it leaves the Government with little choice. Chancellor Philip Hammond abstained in this week’s vote against suspending Parliament, thus giving his support to Remainers. He justified his defiance of the Tory party whip by saying that he fears a no-deal Brexit will result in economic chaos. But if the Government doesn’t deliver Brexit on October 31, with or without a deal, the Tory party will collapse as thousands of despairing voters desert them. This could then allow a Marxist Labour government to gain power and cause far greater damage. Hammond is apparently the first chancellor to defy a three-line whip without being sacked. Not content with that, he is even threatening to bring down the next prime minister with a vote of no confidence if no-deal is not postponed. The strange reasoning of these Tory rebels puts our country in much more danger than Brexit ever could. Yet, sanctimoniously, Dominic Grieve MP and his fanatical pro- EU gang don’t see the contradiction in their argument. They say that suspending Parliament to pursue Brexit would be an enormous blow to democracy. But it was MPs who voted overwhelmingly to hand that choice to us in a referendum, then by a wide margin chose to enact the result with Article 50. – Tim Newark for the Sunday Express Paul Goodman: Our final Next Tory Leader survey. Johnson 73 per cent, Hunt 27 per cent, say those members who have voted We explained when reporting our second Next Tory Leader survey of this contest, published earlier this month, why it may be a less accurate guide to the result than the first. In a nutshell, it’s because voting in the leadership election has been staggered out over the best part of a month – rather than concentrated in a single day, as a general election is (with the exception of postal votes, which were roughly a fifth of the total in 2017). So if the bulk of Party members voted early, it follows that our first survey, the responses to which came in just before most ballot papers arrived, is likely to prove most accurate. And the reservations that we applied to that second survey therefore also apply to this third and final one. It shows Boris Johnson on 73 per cent and Jeremy Hunt on 27 per cent among those who claim to have voted (see the graph above). But, as we say, its accuracy will depend on what proportion of respondents voted early and late. Furthermore, people don’t always recall accurately how they’ve voted – that’s a general feature of political polls and surveys. So it could be that many respondents who say they voted for Johnson actually voted for Hunt, and vice-versa. None the less and despite all this, the thrust of every poll and survey taken during this contest shows Johnson on course for a landslide. Our first survey found Johnson on 67 per cent. Our second showed him on 71 per cent. This third one nudges his total among those who have voted to 73 per cent. A YouGov poll published during the early days of voting found him at 74 per cent. So in short, all the available evidence suggests that Johnson will win overwhelmingly when the result is declared on Tuesday. If there is a hidden army of switchers to Hunt, it is extremely well concealed. But these findings have a sting in the tail for the front-runner. A Johnson landslide is now expected. So if one doesn’t materialise – and Hunt gains as much as say 40 per cent or over – the result will disappoint the front-runner. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Iain Dale: If Boris Johnson can’t get the country through this Brexit logjam, no one can Over the last three weeks I’ve chaired ten of the sixteen Conservative leadership hustings all around the country, featuring the two finalists in ‘Tories have got Talent’, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. Both candidates have impressed and grown into their leadership roles, even if both have persisted in making the most awful (and same) jokes in their stump speeches. The two impressions I am left with is that Boris Johnson went some way to dispelling the notion that he is not a ‘details man’. Where we might have expected bluster, he often gave long, detailed and sometimes complex and well thought-out answers to questions. Jeremy Hunt learned how to grab an audience by the heart as well as the head and on Wednesday in London was in almost rabble-rousing form. As the contest has gone on, we have seen two Boris Johnsons. The funny, irreverent and cheeky Boris has emerged from the cocoon of the parliamentary stages. The old Boris is back. Yet as the contest has gone on, the growing realisation that he was about to achieve his lifetime’s ambition has also brought the serious Boris to the fore. And contrary to his political foes’ rather lazy characterisation of him, there is a very serious side to him indeed. My honest view now is that if Boris can’t get the country through this Brexit logjam, no one can. It may be that his premiership is incredibly short-lived and it combusts into dust, and he goes down as a footnote in history. But he knows that if he can pull this off, history will write him up in a very different way. That concentrates the mind. – Iain Dale for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Brexit in Brief If Boris wants to go to the nation, he’ll need more than Theresa May’s Brexit pig with lippy on – Rod Liddle for the Sunday Times (£) The national interest lies in MPs on all sides working to stop no deal – Sir Keir Stamer MP for the Observer March for Change: anti-Brexit protesters take to London streets – Guardian