A lot of Tory MP's do not like or are jealous of Boris Johnson and are said to be plotting to do anything they can to stop him being their next leader. The trouble is that he is by far and away the most popular Tory in both the wider party and also the country. He is box office. Being a Brexiteer means that he was on the side of the 52% but also of the vast majority of Tory members. So if among MPs he is in the top two in the initial poll, then Tory members are bound to vote for him.
That is not only because Boris has sex appeal but because there is no other credible candidate which almost guarantees him a top two slot. Theresa May has no personality and backed Remain - the losing side - and did so in a cowardly fashion yet she is seen as the leading challenger to Boris. George Osborne still thinks he may have a chance but after his car-crash Referendum no-one else does. The ludicrous Amber Rudd is getting her PR brother Roland Rat to spin that her star is rising but her campaign was the ultimate train wreck and she is a total disaster. Who else is there?
At this stage Boris is a shoe in so his opponents, almost entirely Remainers, have resorted once again to Project Smear. Yup he did a bit of plagiarism as a young journalist: we all know that. Yes, he's a toff from Eton: we all know that. There was that Darius Guppy episode, so what? And yes he has screwed half the women in London, so what?
You throw all of that and folks say "That Boris he's a bit of a bumbling rogue" and they like him even more. At last they find a politician who is not an dull robot who has failings but bounces back and is quite funny.
The smear on Boris would be to say that he is now a committed Christian into monogamy and watching old episodes of Midsommer Murders, how can you vote for someone so dull? The real attack might be to expose all his policy flip flops and to show that, like Dodgy Dave Cameron, he does not really believe in anything other than the pursuit of power for himself.
But the Remainers know nothing other than Project Smear. So wait for the splash headlines largely about the birds. It is not going to work but the stop Boris folks know no other way than smear and that will be their failing. Again.