Despite Labour’s headaches, Boris Johnson is still the leader most in trouble

Editorial: It is too easily forgotten how fast things have gone wrong for the prime minister

(Dave Brown)

Even with “Beergate” being given an unlikely second bite of the bhaji, Boris Johnson remains the party leader who is in the greatest jeopardy.

Sir Keir Starmer will be embarrassed by the announcement of further enquiries by Durham Police; but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he did anything wrong, and he maintains that he did not. For obvious reasons it would be helpful if the police could complete their work rapidly, so that the Labour leader can “get on with the job”, as the phrase goes, of holding the government to account. It is hard to imagine him lecturing the prime minister about probity at the moment, although he insists no rules were broken.

It is too easily forgotten how fast things had gone wrong for Mr Johnson even before that video of a hapless Allegra Stratton in a mock press conference emerged – before the prime minister first told the Commons that there had been no parties, and that no rules had been broken. That is, before the collection of criminalities known as Partygate came into play, and after the prime minister had been in trouble over sleaze, and over a sense of drift and missed opportunities, Brexit-related and otherwise.