I wish Suella Braverman well in her ambition to become prime minister. What I do not think she can do in the meantime is remain attorney general.
Braverman told ITV’s Peston programme last night that there was currently “an overwhelming sense of despair among Conservative MPs”, adding that “the time has come for the prime minister to step down”.
She said: “If there is a leadership contest, I will put my name into the ring.”
It is, however, wrong to describe her as “staying in the cabinet”. She may regard herself as a member of the cabinet but the cabinet does not. The government website, which at time of writing awaits urgent updating, lists her fairly low under the heading “also attends cabinet”. That is for the very good reason that a lawyer cannot give independent, objective legal advice to a body of which she or he is a member.
No attorney general has ever before stood for election as prime minister. But Braverman’s declared candidacy comes as no surprise. This is what I wrote here on Sunday:
I have argued before that Braverman, the first attorney general in history to have a full-time special adviser (“spad”) of her own, has undermined the fragile paradox of a government minister who is sometimes required to act in an entirely non-political way. I wish Braverman well with her political ambitions, but they are becoming increasingly inconsistent with the post she now holds.
It looks as if we shall have an acting prime minister in Downing Street by early next week. By that point, Braverman must follow the lead of her deputy and resign her post. The acting prime minister should immediately appoint a lawyer of substance and integrity to act as the government’s chief legal adviser. And the obvious candidate for that job is Lord Wolfson of Tredegar QC, the former justice minister who led the current wave of ministerial resignations against Boris Johnson in April.
Update: The only attorney general who became prime minister was Spencer Perceval KC. He was also the only British prime minister to have been assassinated.