For too long Conservative supporters have been belittled by an arrogant leadership (Image: Getty )
Sixteen hustings over four weeks is a vital process that should make both prime ministerial candidates aware of exactly how ordinary Conservative supporters feel across the nation.
For too long they have been ignored and belittled by an arrogant leadership that has lurched from crisis to crisis, bringing their party to near electoral annihilation.
Clearly it was wrong for Theresa May to be shoehorned into the top job without facing the people who do all the hard work of doorstep campaigning.
It gave all the impression of a Remainer coup with no popular mandate for her premiership even among her own party members.
The result was three wasted years and considerable damage to the reputation of the Conservative Party.
The rot set in a decade earlier when David Cameron and his liberal modernisers decided to ditch the inheritance of Margaret Thatcher and project a softer, supposedly more caring image.
Subsequently the Tories haemorrhaged votes to Ukip and barely scraped into coalition with the Lib-Dems.
Jeremy Hunt has considerable charm and a good track-record as minister at the NHS (Image: Stefan Rousseau / PA Wire)
Having made that mistake once, it is extraordinary that Theresa May and her accolytes did the same.
Unsurprisingly Nigel Farage was there yet again to scoop up the votes of disaffected Tories in his quickly assembled Brexit Party.
How many times does this have to happen before the men and women in grey suits get the message they need to get out of the Westminster bubble and listen to their own backers? If they can't even win naturally Tory votes, they're sure as hell not going to convince the rest of the country.
This month then is crucial for both leadership contenders to spend their time smiling and listening to the people they hope will keep them in Downing Street.
Jeremy Hunt has considerable charm and a good track-record as minister at the NHS for paying attention to what is actually going on there.
A friend of mine who sat next to him at dinner said he was the only politician she knew who actually looked at her rather than searching the room for
