There is no way out for Boris Johnson

Just after 6 p.m. yesterday it seemed like the Boris Johnson regime was in total, house of cards style collapse. Sajid Javid resigned as Health Secretary during a televised act of contrition by the PM over his handling – if that’s not too indelicate a word – of the Chris Pincher affair. Five minutes later Rishi Sunak quit as Chancellor. Their aides briefed that the two moves had not been coordinated. Nobody believed this.

Outside the Marquis of Granby public house near Smith Square – the Tory tribe’s favourite Westminster watering hole – groups of right-wing think-tankers and researchers for Conservative MPs – avidly scoured social media for updates. Inside the pub the TV was switched to rolling news and as the throng awaited more big-name departures from the government, it seemed all over.

But the big names never materialised, with all due respect to Andrew Murrison and Bim Afolami. By 10 p.m. a credible new Chancellor had been found, as well as a perfectly serviceable replacement Health Secretary.