Johnson’s critics are circling once again

As Boris Johnson feels he has been vindicated in his resistance to new Covid restrictions, Downing Street had hoped that his party would give him due credit. However, after a tricky few months, the Prime Minister instead finds himself under fire from his own side on a number of fronts.

Former cabinet minister and long time ally Sir David Frost used an interview in the Mail on Sunday to warn his former boss to be a proper Tory or face the consequences; Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has called on Johnson to focus on the levelling up agenda; fresh claims from Dominic Cummings over Downing Street parties have led to calls for a broadening of the inquiry; while a new YouGov poll finds that almost half of all Tory members now believe that Rishi Sunak would make a better leader than Johnson. 

Even on Covid, there is frustration in Whitehall that it risks becoming a vessel by which leadership hopefuls can garner support from the Tory membership by pushing for an end to all restrictions.