The phone call that Boris Johnson was bracing for finally came as he was preparing for Sunday¡¯s Platinum Jubilee finale. Conservative Party grandee Graham Brady confirmed that more than 15% of the prime minister¡¯s own MPs had submitted letters of no-confidence. A vote on his future was imminent.
For hours, though, Johnson was unable to react. Instead he sat looking untroubled in a makeshift royal box near Buckingham Palace watching a parade of soldiers, James Bond cars and celebrity bakers celebrate the Queen¡¯s 70 years on the throne. A couple of seats away sat Labour leader Keir Starmer, unaware of the new threat to his political rival.
The four-day Jubilee extravaganza came after months of meticulous planning. By contrast, the quickfire Conservative leadership vote was the result of months of unease over Johnson¡¯s conduct that boiled into anger at ¡°partygate¡± ¡ª revelations of illegal gatherings in Downing Street during the pandemic.
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