A drawn-out struggle for power looms

BORIS Johnson has been plunged into deeply perilous waters. The next 48 hours will determine whether this dogged Prime Minister survives while the sharks circle.

Few Tory MPs are willing to predict what happens next.

One veteran former minister last night told me: “I thought I’d seen it all but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

In the immediate aftermath of the exits of the Chancellor and the Health Secretary, some Tory MPs suspected the Prime Minister would offer his own resignation by the end of the evening.

That threat receded over the following two hours as other Cabinet ministers sent declarations of loyalty.

Yet rumours continued to circulate that a swathe of junior ministers will quit over the coming days.

The minutes before Prime Minister’s Questions today will be particularly nervy for No10 with the possibility of further resignation time to cause maximum damage.

In Mr Johnson’s favour, his opponents appear to be running out of weaponry.

Their attempt to deploy a confidence vote last month backfired and a mass Cabinet walk-out has not materialised. They are rapidly running out of options to strike a killer blow.

There also seems to be little sign of effective organisation among the would-be assassins.

The absence of a date on Rishi Sunak’s resignation letter suggests he has been waiting for the most opportune moment to go rather than taking part in a coordinated plot.

Mr Johnson’s foes will not give up. The rebels’ focus will now switch to seizing control of the parliamentary party’s ruling 1922 Committee.

A drawn out battle looms.

Mr Johnson will know that the loss of his Chancellor is not necessarily a terminal blow. He survived the departure of Sajid Javid from that role during a Cabinet reshuffle in 2020.

But losing such a key figure can be a portent that the end is nigh.

For all yesterday’s high drama, it is too early to write off the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson has always had an amazing knack of defying political gravity and refusing to obey the rules of the Westminster game. The next few hours and days will give those extraordinary traits their ultimate test.