The turkeys have voted for Christmas, and Labour says ho ho ho

You have to hand it to the Tory party. They know how to give us all a good laugh.

- John Crace

Their desire to be an irrelevance is uncontained. A death spiral of existential nihilism. The self-proclaimed "world's most sophisticated electorate" of Tory MPs has given us the sketch-writer's dream ending.

After Tuesday's third round of voting it seemed an inevitability that James Cleverly was going to make it through to the final two. Even Jimmy Dimly seemed to think he was a shoo-in. During prime minister's questions he preened on the opposition frontbench. A man awaiting his coronation.

Jimmy D had come up with the radical idea that the Tories might like to think about trying to be a little more normal. Dimly had had the stunning insight that the support of about 120,000 Tory members wasn't enough to win the Tories an election. Rather, it was a recipe for annihilation.