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I think the Tories will regret crowning a candidate whose own campaign team daren't put him in front of the cameras or subject him to a serious interview. Johnson's whole pitch rests on a premise they dare not test: that you can expose him to the public & win a general election.
Boris Johnson is a "feel-good" politician, who has always struggled under scrutiny. His response to pressure is invariably to crack a joke - often one that's casually cruel - and that has got him into trouble again and again and again. Things will be much worse as prime minister.
Imagine Johnson at PMQs, facing questions about food-banks, hospital deaths, factory closures or job losses. This is not his natural terrain; and if there's economic pain coming down the line, the public are going to be very unforgiving of a PM whose instinct is to crack a funny.
His campaign team know this: that's why they're keeping him off the airwaves. They want the party to elect a memory of Boris Johnson: the loveable rogue who made us laugh on "Have I Got News For You" - not the chaotic Foreign Secretary whose popularity plummeted when in office.
As far as I can see, the sole argument for electing Johnson is the belief he can win an election. If I were a Tory, I'd want to test that proposition carefully. His record as F. Sec suggests he shrivels under pressure. If that's true, his party is about to make a serious mistake.
