The rise and fall of Boris Johnson – a politician who can’t escape his flaws

The prime minister likes to dismiss any storm as something that will soon blow over, writes Andrew Grice

From left: Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak and the prime minister, Boris Johnson (Toby Melville/PA) (PA Archive)

If Boris Johnson’s downfall is triggered by the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, it will be a remarkably swift one.

It is easy to forget that only nine months ago, Johnson was riding high. The Tory conference in Manchester was a delayed (by Covid-19) celebration of his greatest triumph – the thumping majority of 80 he won at the 2019 general election.

The first act of Johnson’s fall from grace came when he foolishly tried to save the skin of fellow Brexiteer Owen Paterson after he broke Commons rules on lobbying. Although a revolt by Tory MPs forced Johnson to back down, this was the first in a series of self-inflicted disasters which exposed fatal weaknesses in Johnson’s character (that were always there) – a tendency to think the rules do not really apply to him, and a determination to defend members of his loyal tribe even when they transgress.