Tick-tock, tick-tock, the Brexit clock doesn’t stop. October 31st is the deadline and the next prime minister will barely have a moment to catch his breath before he has to make some vital decisions for the future of our country.

That’s why, for the sake of the national interest, this farcical Tory leadership contest should be concluded as soon as possible and Boris should be made prime minister. Boris has got this, as they say. The first round is now in and it is obvious not only that, with 114 MPs behind him, he will make the final two. Everybody realises that he will win from there. The longer his opponents drag the fight on, the less time he will have to lead. They should all drop out now and accept defeat.

Politicians being politicians, they tend to think in terms of their own interest, so the contest will go on. Some are already using the race to position themselves as opposition leader for future in which Brexit scuppers prime minister Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn is elected. That’s not exactly the selfless public service Britain needs. Some MPs are said to be supporting the long-shot candidates just because they are pals and nobody likes to see their friends humiliated. How pathetic! This is the most important job in Britain, not a school dance.

Did anybody ever think that Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper or Esther McVey had a chance? And does anybody think that Rory Stewart, even if he has 19 votes, will be prime minister? Jeremy Hunt looks as if he will make the final two, but we all know he would be monstered by Boris when the vote moves outside of Westminster. Why pretend otherwise?

The only hope for the Stop Boris brigades is that, on the hustings or in an interview, Boris will say something reckless that spoils his chances. Or rather, the media will seize on some ill-judged remark and turn it into enough of a talking point that weak-minded MPs will suddenly decide that Boris is ‘unacceptable’ after all. And it will only be MPs who recoil; the grassroots are far less delicate.

All the commentary about Boris’s unsuitable character — which just happens to come most frequently from people who oppose our withdrawal from the European Union — sounds a lot like sour acceptance of the inevitable. He may be a frightful womaniser, even an epic shit, but people seem to vote for him. He has charisma and charm that the other candidates cannot match.

After years of Brexit news drudge, the horse-race of leadership contest is fun. Naked power lust is always thrilling, and easier to write about than trade regulations. Rory Stewart has made us all laugh with his eccentric campaign. But enough. The charade must end, the sooner the better, for the sake of the country. All the candidates should drop out immediately and give Boris the chance to lead. They won’t, of course.