Rishi has to take down Boris at the Covid inquiry – and run the risk of Tory civil war

The public needs the PM to let loose about exactly how much of a disaster his two predecessors were, writes Andrew Grice. For Sunak, this could be a ‘do or die’ moment...

While Johnson’s political career is now dead, Sunak’s is still alive (PA Archive)

On the eve of this week’s explosive Covid inquiry hearings, one Boris Johnson ally told me they were convinced he could yet make a sensational comeback as Conservative Party leader. While admitting Johnson’s aversion to hard graft, they predicted he would become leader of the opposition after a Tory defeat at next year’s general election.

Today, Johnson’s dwindling band of acolytes are no longer predicting his return. It was bad enough that the inquiry painted a picture of a dysfunctional Downing Street under a man who most people called “the trolley” for veering all over the place (copyright Dominic Cummings).

Then there were the claims that Johnson went missing to write his book on Shakespeare as the virus began to spread and that the first lockdown was delayed by 10 days. But the most damaging revelation to Johnson was still to come. Even members of Johnson’s fan club now admit privately the final nail in his political coffin was the revelation that he believed old people should be allowed to die from Covid to spare younger people and the economy.