Part 1 recalls Stewart’s progress, via the army, to a parliamentary seat. In part 2 he goes into government, and in this final part he describes the pain of the Brexit years and his candidacy to become PM.
Brexit
Throughout the period from the EU Referendum to the 2019 election, Brexit was being discussed to the detriment of almost everything else. 73% of MPs had voted to Remain. Theresa May had negotiated a secret compromise EU Withdrawal deal, which was presented to Cabinet in July 2018. It meant an end to open immigration from Europe, and the UK leaving all the political institutions of the EU, including jurisdiction of the European Court. But it left the UK in something close to a Customs Union, at least as a temporary measure (a backstop), to ensure open borders in Ireland and protect the Good Friday agreement. But this deal meant the UK could not negotiate new trade deals with non-EU countries.
Rory Stewart supported this deal, which he thought met the obligations of the Referendum outcome, while facilitating UK businesses exporting to Europe. He did his best, through various lobbying activities, letters and meetings, to persuade others to support it. But he wrote:
“Many of the harder Brexiteers in Parliament hated the idea of remaining in the Customs Union. They were excited by the vision of buccaneering Britain making its own trade deals. They felt that it was possible to manage a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, without any impact on security in Northern Ireland, and they wanted more freedom to diverge from EU regulations”.
“Boris Johnson didn’t think Theresa May needed to compromise. He wanted Britain to be able to trade freely with the world, set its own import duties and regulations, and have an open border, strong trade with Europe and peace in Ireland. His personality and entire career centred on having his cake and eating it. Even if it meant making agreements and breaking them later…..and he saw the harder Brexiteers as a useful core for his campaign to become Prime Minister…..He announced that the backstop meant that the UK was headed for the status of a colony”.
Conservative Party leadership campaign
In the summer of 2019, Theresa May resigned as prime minister after failing to get her Brexit deal through the House of Commons. All other compromise ideas had been rejected too. A Conservative Party leadership contest was organised, and Boris Johnson was the leading candidate. Stewart did what he could to oppose Johnson’s idea for Brexit, which he regarded as completely unrealistic and impossible; to oppose Johnson the man as an unfit person to be prime Minister; and to organise a single One Nation Conservative candidate whom like-minded MPs could unite behind to oppose Johnson. He approached Amber Rudd, Nicky Morgan and Damian Green among others, but many of them had already committed themselves to supporting other candidates, so the One Nation caucus was split.
It was then that Stewart decided to run himself. He immediately secured the backing of Ken Clarke, Nicholas Soames and David Gauke, and set up a campaign committee of helpers, to raise money, establish a website, monitor opinion, write leaflets and letters and canvas support, especially on Twitter. This proved remarkably successful, and as the original thirteen candidates became whittled down to five, he was able to garner more and more support. Before the final BBC candidates’ panel interview he was shown in nationwide polling as the preferred candidate to succeed Theresa May as prime minister (though not among Tory MPs or the Tory Party membership).
There were some remarkable exchanges during this period. Stewart wrote:
“Johnson kept doubling down on his promise to take Briain out of Europe by 31 October. Since there was no parliamentary majority for it, he could not. Unless, that was, he broke his latest promise to the One Nation group, forcing the Queen to prorogue Parliament”.
Stewart approached Robert Buckland, who had voted Remain in the Referendum, and whose view of Boris Johnson and the Brexiteers seemed to be a combination of astonished disdain and moral outrage. His greatest ambition was to be Lord Chancellor. But two days before the first ballot, Buckland co-wrote a piece in Conservative Home, stating ”We are looking for a Prime Minister who will be realistic and honest….We believe that person is Boris Johnson”. A few weeks later, Buckland was made Lord Chancellor.
Stewart had a late meeting with Matt Hancock, another Remain voter. Hancock had repeatedly and publicly rejected Johnson’s policies, and said Johnson’s flirtation with proroguing parliament went against everything those men who fought their way up the beaches on D-day died for. The next day Hancock announced his decision in The Times, writing: “I have reflected on what is needed in the national interest, and how the approaches of the candidates fit with my values….I’m backing Boris Johnson as the best candidate….”. Hancock retained his position as Secretary of State for Health in Johnson’s new government.
Stewart reflected on Machiavelli’s The Prince, which Johnson clearly knew well (but never quoted in his speeches):
“A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise”
“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are”
“Politics have no relation to morals”
At a rally, Stewart spoke to a large crowd of supporters. He said:
“I’m going to start with that great prancing elephant in this circus tent…..I’m not thinking about the leading leadership contender….I’m thinking about the phrase ‘No Deal Brexit’. It’s not just no to a deal. It’s no to trade. It’s no to Europe. It’s no to reality….This prophet is a prophet of no. It is the great word of all false prophets through the ages”.
The BBC debate did not go well for Stewart. Emily Maitlis allowed the other candidates, particularly Johnson, to waffle and avoid the questions while appearing statesmanlike, without her usual perceptive follow-up questions, perhaps overly conscious of time pressures and wishing to give time to each candidate.
Stewart’s main answer concerning Brexit was:
“Lee, we need to be honest with you. It would not be possible to leave the European Union by 31st October. Nor would it be possible to leave with no-deal on that date. Our best hope was to convince a majority in Parliament to pass a version of the existing compromise deal which had been negotiated with the EU…..there was no alternative to getting an agreement through Parliament”.
But with Stewart, Maitlis allowed the other candidates to jump in while he was part-way through his answers, and eventually cut him short “because time is short”.
Johnson was elected Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister. He then attempted but failed to prorogue Parliament, called an election, won a large majority, and appointed David Frost as Brexit negotiator, He produced a new and harder version of Brexit, the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, which left a border down the Irish Sea, thereby eroding the position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. This was voted through Parliament in December 2019 and signed on 20th January 2020.
Stewart had the Conservative whip removed in September 2019, resigned from the party in October, and did not stand again as an MP at the December election.
In conclusion
Stewart’s failure to be elected as Conservative Party leader represented victory for the populist right of that Party, the passage of an immensely damaging Brexit treaty, and a new era of gross incompetence and corruption in the UK government.
As consolation, we have this new book from him, immensely detailed, full of anecdotal experiences which enliven the narrative, and leaving a lasting impression of the chaos and incoherence underlying so much of central government policy-making and law-making. It should probably be read by all students of politics and would-be MPs and civil servants.
Concluded
Politics On the Edge by Rory Stewart, published by Jonathan Cape in September 2023, Paperback by Penguin. Details here.
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