The time is ripe for a Boris comeback

‘The thing about the greased piglet is that he manages to slip through other people’s hands where mere mortals fail.’

That was the wry assessment of Boris Johnson, given last autumn by David Cameron who has followed the Prime Minister’s brilliant career since their schooldays with many a chuckle and shake of the head.

A week or so ago it seemed as though the piglet had finally been cornered. Authority was ebbing away in the wake of Johnson’s chaotic imposition of a second nationwide lockdown. The decisive shift in the polls which Keir Starmer had been waiting for appeared finally to be happening.

And then, on Monday, came the Pfizer announcement that its vaccine worked, with an amazing 90 per cent effectiveness rate. Not only that, but it worked in a particular way that raised expectations that several other vaccines in development will work too.