The Tories can’t say they were not warned.
Choosing Boris Johnson as leader of their party and handing him the keys to Downing Street as a result was always going to end in disaster.
Brexit-obsessed Tories were blinded to his obvious faults by bluff and bluster about acting tough to Brussels.
All Conservative MPs could think about when they voted him in was ripping the UK out of the European Union.
They couldn’t have cared less about the long list of prominent Johnson critics who publicly warned he was wholly unsuited to running the country. Many of those who spoke out knew him personally – they had worked with him and saw the damage his reckless attitude could cause.
Johnson has never tried to hide who he is. His chaotic beliefs were spelled out in his years of writing columns for the right-wing press in London.
Even members of the Scottish Conservatives were vocal in their opposition to him taking charge. His unpopularity in Scotland was obvious in 2019 and his favourability has only nosedived since then.
No Prime Minister since the dark days of Margaret Thatcher has been held in such contempt by so many Scottish voters. The Record has reported on the numerous scandals that have gripped Downing Street since Johnson took office.
We have consistently argued he was a disaster for the UK who needed to be ousted at the earliest opportunity. The resignations of two of his most senior Cabinet members last night will have caused him to pause for thought – but only briefly.
Johnson is not known for his introspection. He will continue to stagger on as PM as long as he can.
He long ago decided the normal rules of politics simply do not apply to him. Ministers were kept in jobs despite failings that would have finished many others in days gone by.
Truth was a flexible concept that could be bent to make any necessary political point. The brutal reality is Johnson should have been booted out of Downing Street long ago.
The scandal of the lockdown-busting parties should still cause anger to any decent individual. Partygate should have finished his political career along with many other Cabinet ministers.
Johnson’s wretched reign as Prime Minister will be looked at by future historians as an exercise in right-wing populism gone wrong.
The sooner he goes, the sooner the country can begin to repair the damage he has caused.
