LISTENING to Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt over the last few weeks, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Conservative Party’s leadership candidates have a magic wand enabling them to solve any problems that come their way.

In fact, while the identity of the Prime Minister might be changing next week, the fundamental political realities that ultimately made it impossible for Theresa May to engineer a Brexit solution remain unaltered.

Yesterday, Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt were given a glimpse into the future as MPs backed an amendment aimed at preventing a new Prime Minister from suspending Parliament in order to force through a no-deal Brexit.

As with so much that is Brexit-related, it is unclear whether the legislation makes it impossible for Mr Johnson to lock Parliament out of the decision-making process ahead of October 31, something he has consistently refused to take off the table during the leadership contest, but the fact that four cabinet ministers abstained and 17 Tory MPs voted against the Government highlights the fragility of the majority the next Prime Minister will inherit.

Both Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt have made a series of sweeping promises in the last few weeks, but it is hard to see how they are going to be able to deliver them when even a significant part of their own party is against their proposals.

At some stage, there are surely going to have to be compromises. And we all know how that went for Mrs May.