Welcome to the forum
I agree with a lot of this post, you presented a balanced view of the situation imo. I have never really believed that they are jealous of Gary and want him out because they think he'll win, I think it's just a playground bully thing - they don't like someone different.
It does confuse me though that you'd like to see George winning after this post. He doesn't seem to give Gary the time of day and has done a bit of sniggering behind his back in attempts to ram himself up James's and Stephanie's arses I think.