Tory Corbynism could derail a government led by Truss

We all know that people can be unpleasant on social media but the vitriol within the Conservative tribe in this leadership election is still arresting. Take, for example, the reaction on Twitter to the show of hands in Rishi Sunak's favour by the studio audience after the Sky News interviews with the candidates.

- JOHN RENTOUL

Plainly, there were reasonable questions to be asked about how an audience that was intended by the broadcaster to consist of undecided Conservative Party members turned out to include several people who were committed Sunak supporters from the start.

But the reaction from people brandishing "Never Rishi” hashtags, calling the former chancellor a "snake" or a "backstabber", many of whom claimed to have a vote in this election, is reminiscent of Corbynite denunciation of Blairites in recent Labour history.

A consistent theme is that of a media conspiracy against the true values of the party, in which "Sly News" is in cahoots with the biased BBC, ITV and Channel 4. It goes without saying that The Independent is part of the plot, and in other waves of social media hostility to Sunak he is described as the candidate of the World Economic Forum. (The WEF stages those elite talkathons in Davos in between secretly running the world.)

Obviously, Twitter is not the real world, except that MPs are on it, and the poison has spread. Angela Richardson, a Sunaksupporting MP, publicly exclaimed "FFS!" and muted Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, for being rude about Sunak's Prada shoes. Simon Hoare told Michael Fabricant, a Liz Truss supporter who made fun of Sunak's ready-made graphics, to "keep your hair on and your hypocrisy to yourself".