*Tortoise and the Tories The Conservative Party is a private members’ club that does not need to provide any information to the public about the membership that elects the party leader and prime minister or how the election is run, the High Court has ruled.

So what? Six of the last nine prime ministers – Major, Brown, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak – were ushered into Downing Street by their parties, not the public. Three ran the country without ever winning a general election.

The High Court’s ruling highlights – and preserves – the secrecy surrounding elections like the one that saw Liz Truss succeed Boris Johnson last year.

Tortoise Media sought a Judicial Review of the Conservative Party’s conduct of that election on the grounds that, although the party is a private organisation, it serves a public function when running an election that chooses the prime minister.

Mr Justice Fordham rejected that argument today. *