The prime minister has survived the vote of no-confidence. And now we are all Clarice, forced to watch what’s next
Ironically, the Conservative party seems to have been unable to engineer a leaving do for Boris Johnson. Last night’s unsuccessful leaderplasty leaves the government hideously disfigured but staggering on; and the prime minister the subject of headlines like “let me get on with the job”. Which, considering the circumstances that brought us here, is a little like Fred West pleading to be allowed to get on with finishing someone’s loft extension. The not-getting-on-with-the-job has been a significant part of the problem. (Please don’t think that’s today’s only serial killer reference: we shall be dealing later in the column with the one made in the prime minister’s defence by Tory MP Adam Holloway, during a particularly eye-catching Newsnight appearance.)
For now, a recap. Scores on the doors were 148 Conservative MPs voting no-confidence, with 211 opting to clean up after Big Dog yet again. For them, this is not rock bottom. Johnson’s supporters have dived down to the bottom of their equivalent of Trainspotting’s worst toilet in Scotland, and fished out the suppository. Or to put it a different way that still underscores the dependency, 211 of them chose last night to order another gram of Boris Johnson, rather than begin the painful yet ultimately unavoidable process of coming down from what can surely no longer be described as a high.
Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
