A crowded, noisy Commons didn’t help Boris Johnson after all

The prime minister was said to be keen to get his cheering supporters back into parliament, writes John Rentoul

Boris Johnson, surrounded but alone (PA)

It was a shock to enter the press gallery of the House of Commons on Wednesday and to look down on a full chamber. For the first time in 17 months, the rules on social distancing had been lifted. MPs weren’t exactly packed into the benches: most of them were sitting close to each other but not touching. Even so, the house was crowded and noisy – something which Conservative MPs, in particular, have been eager to return to.

There has been a lot of commentary about how Boris Johnson was also keen to have the government benches filled with vocal supporters, who would make it harder for Keir Starmer to do his hushed courtroom act.

But things turned out rather differently on Wednesday. When the prime minister started to make his statement about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, MPs on both sides of the house, but especially on Johnson’s own side, stood up to try to interrupt him with critical questions.