It reflected a mounting sense of frustration that the man who proved so adept at winning a majority has proven almost totally unwilling to use it. This disillusion was not just down to the prime minister’s misconduct. 1990 was the fall of a titan yesterday was the death of a salesman. The Daily Mail may try to invoke the spirit of 1990 – with a recent headline reading “ What the hell have they done?” – but Johnson is no Thatcher. Among those who actually make the machinery of Conservative politics work, he had nobody left. One might expect a big crowd of Tory politicians, wonks, hacks and activists, on the eve of a revolution against a triumphant leader, to have been bitterly divided.īut if there were any Johnson supporters present, they were keeping very quiet. On Wednesday night, when the siege of the Winter Palace was in full swing and it was not yet obvious whether Johnson would actually resign, one of the rightwing thinktanks was having its summer bash. Indeed, the “crazy briefings” from his handful of loyalists about deselecting rebellious MPs or calling an early election just helped push even more ministers over the edge, ensuring a steady drumbeat of resignations right up to Johnson’s own. But there is no great bloc of sympathisers prepared to serve as praetorian guard. The prime minister does have his committed supporters among the grassroots, and a small band of loyalists in the House of Commons. In fact, it is remarkable the extent to which the party has not been divided by the overthrow of a leader who just three years ago led the party to its first proper overall majority in more than 30 years – and recorded a record-smashing net approval rating of +92 in ConservativeHome’s cabinet rankings. By the conference in October, the party will have yet another leader, yet another chance at a fresh start. This unfortunate chapter might not quite have ended yet, but it is ending. A full Tory leadership contest is a necessarily time-consuming affair even if the 1922 Committee expedites the early stages, you still need weeks to allow the final two to campaign for the national ballot of party members.įor all that, however, the general sense among Conservatives is one of relief. But barring the unthinkable, such as supporting a Labour motion of no confidence, their options are limited. Little wonder that MPs are looking for ways to expedite the leaving process. A few more weeks of corroding the Conservative brand, presiding over a cabinet in which the best-known members openly covet his job and the rest likely won’t be in theirs for long. In each case, it made the process longer and more painful than necessary, and this twilight zone end to his premiership promises more of the same.