Both have a role. MP votes produce a shortlist of two with the final choice between them left to the membership.
In 2019 it was Johnson v Jeremy Hunt.
In 2016 it was going to be Theresa May v Andrea Leadsom but the latter withdrew.
And Johnson knew that if he could only get onto that membership ballot he was home and dry, despite every even vaguely thoughtful person recognising that he was completely unsuited to be PM, because the conservative party membership are, in aggregate, going to go for froth, appearance, superficialities, dog whistles, and image, all things that Johnson is very very good at. We could all see the disaster unfolding before us , it's not as if his rise and the subsequent fall of the country were unexpected.
