Parliamentarians meekly deferred to the expert advisers, who have had stardom thrust upon them by the pandemic
This time last year, Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty were completely unknown to almost everyone. Possibly even to some members of their own families. In their early outings at Downing Street press conferences, both the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer appeared somewhat hesitant when taking centre stage, only too happy to defer to the prime minister.
So much so that Boris Johnson ended up ignoring their advice, leading to a second and third lockdown.
