Perhaps in the future, groups of schoolchildren visiting the Houses of Parliament will pause before the statue of a former prime minister. As they study his face, the unruly hair finally tamed in bronze, the teacher will explain that this is Boris Johnson, a leader of indisputable historic significance brought down by a “bring your own bottle” party.
As so often with leaders, the prime minister’s undoing may be the features that once made him attractive to voters, in this case his irreverence and carelessness. With the big Brexit battles won, allies are less tolerant of his weaknesses. A run of unforced errors culminating in the revelation he broke his own Covid laws by holding, or at least attending, a party in the Downing Street garden now places him at serious risk.