When Boris Johnson addressed MPs on Wednesday, the hope in government was that the Prime Minister’s multiple appearances would rally the troops. First at PMQs, then before the 2019 intake, before addressing the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers. With MPs returning from the summer holidays fed up after a string of policy U-turns and constituent complaints, many needed a jolt of optimism ahead of a tricky few months.
His appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions did the opposite. ‘He was all over the place,’ sighs one veteran MP. Several Tory MPs privately complain that it was discourteous of Johnson to turn up at the despatch box having not done his homework. And while Boris Johnson’s appearance with the Chancellor before the new intake went more smoothly, it was his appearance at the 1922 that was most revealing.
Johnson told MPs of his hope that things will return to normal by Christmas. With
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