A few months ago, when people first started speculating that Boris Johnson might be ousted, the prime minister revealed how he would respond to such a challenge. “The PM told a group of us a story about a relative of his,” a No 10 adviser said. “A great-uncle, I think. For some reason this person was on the run from the authorities and holed up in a town hall, surrounded by police. He also had a flame-thrower. I’m not sure how the incident ended but that was the metaphor the PM used when talking about the leadership. He said it would take a flame-thrower to get him out of there.”
As Johnson’s rollercoaster career came to a shuddering halt last week, I remembered the words
