Boris Johnson’s survival superpower can only last so long
Long before Partygate, Boris Johnson was known among colleagues for the superpower of survival: the extraordinary ability to shrug off setbacks that led his Eton contemporary, David Cameron, to liken him to a greased piglet.
This weekend, as scores of junior colleagues reeled from the news that just one of the 126 fines levied over Partygate was levied on the prime minister, his supporters were celebrating what appeared to be another great escape.
Shortly after finishing a call with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday morning, what Johnson had long been telling friends was formally confirmed to No 10: he will receive no further fines, aside from the one he was handed for sharing a birthday cake with colleagues in June 2020.
With a well-timed announcement of structural changes aimed at showing he has got a firmer grip on No 10, and the promise of action on the cost of living, Johnson now hopes to put the parties row behind him.
He was back to his usual bumptious self in Friday’s speech to Welsh Conservatives, rattling through his greatest hits, from claiming he “got the big calls right” on Covid to attacking “Corbynistas” – though to a noticeably muted response from the audience. Earlier, he had told reporters during a factory visit that he could not “simply magic away” the cost of living crisis.
He still has two more hurdles yet to surmount, however: the final report of the formidable Sue Gray, who has already told Johnson that she plans to name him; and an inquiry by the House of Commons privileges committee into whether he misled parliament.
One Boris-sceptic backbencher suggested that while Gray’s report might solidify things in a few MPs’ minds, by setting out in black and white the unedifying details of
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