Boris Johnson’s premiership has reached an appropriately messy conclusion

There is no good reason to allow a wounded and rogue prime minister to stay in power a moment longer

Leave with dignity? It’s unlikely the prime minister will ever admit the game is up (Reuters)

Boris Johnson is famous for liking punchy three-word slogans, but the latest fashionable catchphrase “enough is enough” has been his undoing.

It became something of a chorus among Conservative MPs in recent days, and was deployed with devastating effect by Sajid Javid in his personal statement to the Commons. Around 35 ministerial resignations ago, so it feels longer than it is, Mr Javid reflected that he had given the prime minister the benefit of the doubt time and again, and loyally served twice in his government, but eventually the lies and confusions became too much for him. It struck a chord across Westminster.

Enough was enough for a “pile on” during the day, amounting to dozens of cabinet ministers, ministers of state, ministerial aides and backbenchers. A flow of formerly ardent fans, such as Kemi Badenoch, Lee Anderson and Jonathan Gullis, withdrew their support as the day dragged on. Even Priti Patel, for whom Mr Johnson once sacrificed an ethics adviser (it didn’t seem to hurt him), was rumoured to be siding with the rebels. With David Davis, Andrew Bridgen, Steve Baker and, in noises off, Nigel Farage calling on the prime minister to quit, the tumult could not be dismissed as a “Remoaner” plot. By the end of the afternoon even his own freshly minted chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, was reportedly urging him to quit, a twist of Caligula-like proportions.