In a non-Covid world, next week would be Tory conference in Birmingham. As I say in the magazine this week, it would have been a triumphalist conference with much talk of how the Tories had won a two-term victory.
Covid has changed everything, though. Tory conference is now an online only event with short speeches. The Tories are now behind Labour for the first time since Johnson became leader, albeit only in one poll. His backbenchers are becoming more rebellious. More than 50 of them signed the Brady amendment – which calls for parliamentary votes before nationwide Covid restrictions are introduced – enough to wipe out the government’s majority if it had come to vote. In short, it feels very much like mid-term despite the fact it is less than a year since the general election.
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