Johnson insults people who think rules matter. The Labour leader is doing well by instead asking who speaks for the country
There are times when Boris Johnson’s leadership calls to mind the technique for flying outlined by Douglas Adams, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” In pursuit of Brexit, then in response to Covid, Johnson has hurled himself at disaster and, in defiance of political gravity, avoided impact.
Until now. Amid the hullabaloo over Tory MPs’ lobbying sidelines can be heard a crunch of gravel as a prime minister comes down to Earth; gravity restored. For Labour, it has been a frustrating wait. The Conservatives have been in power for 11 years. Even if you measure time on the Borisian calendar, which starts in December 2019, this is midterm with a government looking haggard and directionless. A dip in the Tory poll rating would be normal. A swift bounceback would also be no surprise in the era of Johnson’s flying circus.
