The central claim of the populist leader is that politics is easy. As his sorrows gather in a battalion, Boris Johnson is beginning to find out that running the country is harder than it looks.
The reform of social care, which squeaked through the House of Commons on Monday night (22 November), is an issue into which government fortunes tend to dissolve. The front pages of regional and local newspapers in the north of England last week told a tale of betrayal on the rail network. The mist of corruption drifts over the government and anonymous senior figures in Downing Street have begun to brief against the boss. The populist leader skulks around the building, a little sheepish now, face to face with his own illusions.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
