In the Tory leadership battle, only the deranged are welcome. Arise, Liz Truss | John Crace

The quest for Pure Conservatism is afoot, and the former PM is not short of ideas. The problem is that they're all really terrible

When two tribes go to war ... Or three. Or four. The real action at this year's Tory party conference is all taking place on the fringes. Almost no one believes that Rishi Sunak can win the next election and the leadership hopefuls are making their pitch for the hollowed-out soul of the party. The main hall is a dead zone. A theatre of charades where ministers on autopilot trot out a whole load of cliches they don't believe to a handful of dozing delegates who aren't listening. The speeches are delivered as if they were written by ChatGPT channelling a below-average 12-year-old. That's being kind in the case of Lucy Frazer, Mark Harper and Claire Coutinho.

It's like gatecrashing a parallel universe. One where all the normal rules of politics are broken. A party conference is normally where people and politicians come together to share their worldview. Confirmation bias. Or, when times are tough, to bunker down and reassure themselves that all is well with their world even if the world is against them.