I think any leadership challenge against David Cameron before the next election would be an unmitigated disaster and if Adam Afriyie really is contemplating such a thing he might as well cross the floor of the House of Commons right now for all the good it will do his own party. Ed Miliband must have had a big smile on his face when he read yesterday's morning papers.
The question of who will eventually succeed David Cameron, by contrast, is a perfectly legitimate one and Afriyie shouldn't be punished for showing an interest in the top job. Someone close to the Parliamentary Party told me recently that 95 per cent of sitting Conservative MPs believe, in their heart of hearts, that they're leadership material and, having met a good number of them, I can believe that. I daresay the same is true of the Opposition benches as well. Having delusions of grandeur is a necessary condition of entering politics in the first place. Afriyie's only crime is not making enough effort to conceal his ambition. (To read more, click here.)
