Trust me, it could be far worse. You could be the current Prime Minister of Her Majesty’s Government of Great Britain and Northern Ireland!
Yes, ol’ Boris is finding out that sometimes having something isn’t quite the same thing as wanting it.
A fair heap of the Conservative Party saw fit to pack him off to No 10 Downing Street after Theresa May realised that the EU has already figured out that the House of Commons was way too btsht crazy to be a credible Brexit negotiating partner and her three tries at the Withdrawal Agreement were all she was going to get.
What Boris didn’t realise was that his ascent to the summit of the political greasy pole was actually an incredible own goal that may well serve as the death knell to his political career.
It’s entirely likely he may well have the shortest premiership in modern British history.
Certainly his run of form in the Commons since the Tories voted him into No 10 is certainly not encouraging:
- When he kissed hands, his working majority in the Commons was 1 MP. THAT’S IT! And even worse for him was that ten of the MPs in that majority are from Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) who were certainly not going to be on side with any Brexit (including no deal) that would lead to the reintroduction of hard border controls in Ireland.
- That working majority vanished prior to his first division as PM…Phillip Lee MP crossed over from the Tory back-benches to join the Liberal Democrats in opposition. During Boris’ statement to the House on the G7 Summit (and mostly about Brexit), no less!
- He’s since sacked 21 rebellious Conservatives who refused to back the government’s position on taking the no-deal Brexit off the table by removing them from the whip which effectively throws them out of the party and prevents them from standing for election as Conservatives. One of the “rebels” was Nicholas Soames MP whose main claim to fame is that he is the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill. Yes…the grandson of the current Prime Minister’s political hero has been tossed out of the Tory party!
All of these schenanigans were meant to force an early general election where Boris was expecting to be returned with a commanding working majority with which he could force through his Brexit “do or die”. Except that to do so early requires two-thirds of the Commons to go along with it and Labour and the Scottish Nationalists (SNP) abstaining from that vote pretty much ensured that plan would go down in flames.
If all THAT wasn’t bad enough…the news emerged this morning that Jo Johnson MP has not only resigned as minister but is also standing down from his seat in the Commons with immediate effect. Jo Johnson would be the Prime Minister’s brother and even though they were already known to be diametrically opposed on Brexit (Jo voted Remain whilst Boris was possessed by the spirit of Nigel Farage to spearhead Brexit) but you know it has to hurt when your OWN BROTHER can’t stand to be in the same chamber as you.
So now Boris finds himself sitting pretty much alone on a throne of thorns in a kingdom of flames. And a lot of that immolation is self-inflicted to put it mildly.
And Inigo Montoya’s “humiliations galore” awaits him as the EU which was already unwilling to move on removing the “backstop” is likely to be far more intransigent now dealing with a House of Commons they can trust even less than when Theresa May was PM.
This picture is how I imagine Boris must be feeling in the Cabinet Room right about now…
