Is the golden goose now a toxic turkey?

FOR THE second time in under two years, Boris Johnson finds himself on life support. Only this time, he’s not been unfortunate enough to contract Covid but rather to allow himself to suffer a series of self-inflicted wounds.

Make no mistake, while there has been no shortage of scrapes endured by the Prime Minister both personally and politically over the years, this is the tightest squeeze in which he’s found himself.

As you read this, his fate is most likely being decided. Conservative MPS will have returned from the febrile, self-obsessed world of Westminster to their constituencies, determined to tune in to how voters are feeling.

Troubled by tumbling poll ratings – particularly in what was once the “Red Wall” zone that saw such unprecedented triumphs in the last general election – they’ll want to know if their jobs are on the line if Boris clings on.

There is one factor that could help Johnson, at least for some time. Not only is there no natural successor in the Conservative ranks, but there seems little appetite to find one. Liz Truss clearly covets the job and in recent photocalls appears to be auditioning for the role of monarch, not just PM.

And rival Rishi Sunak is working flat out to put as much distance between himself and Boris as possible.

But so much energy has been spent by the Tories on the fight against Covid and some of the attendant petty-fogging restrictions, that there’s little left in the tank for the rigorous process of selecting a new leader.

Ultimately, the Conservatives have to face an unpalatable truth: are they prepared to trade in a proven election winner for someone with only a scintilla of Johnson’s “star appeal”, risking being pitched into the political wilderness?

And here’s a question for Johnson himself. How have you allowed yourself to go from being electoral gold to appearing to be a toxic brand?

The lack of empathy shown by those involved in the infamous BYOB party in May 2020 is chilling.

As people were being barred from funerals – or in one hideous example told to separate from loved ones – and death rates were rising, how on earth could anyone in Number 10 have thought it appropriate to raise a glass after work because it was a lovely, sunny day?

The PM’S principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, who sent out the party invite, is so clearly out of touch you have to wonder if he actually inhabits the same planet.

If Boris has people like that around him in key positions, it’s hardly surprising he finds himself in such a deep hole.

The fact Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross was so quick last week to say he couldn’t see Johnson staying in post is also hugely telling.

To win back the British public the

Conservatives have to put on a united front. Having a schism that effectively creates “two” parties will only lead to ignominious defeat.

Politics never ceases to throw out ironies and this is no exception.

With Covid cases falling and hospitalisations seemingly under control, Johnson would have been valid in claiming a slew of recent key decisions had gone his way. His determination to allow England to have as normal a Christmas as possible, as opposed to the mean-spirited leaders in Wales and Scotland, appears to have been vindicated.

Were he to lift Plan B restrictions, England would be the first developed country to emerge from the pandemic. Factor in record jobs growth and the healthiest economy among the G7 and the European Union and the picture looks rosier still.

As it is, he is now marking time, waiting for the outcome of an inquiry by the so-called Westminster “enforcer” Sue Gray.

His fate is not in his hands – just as it wasn’t when a skilled medical team kept him alive on a ventilator as he battled Covid nearly two years ago.

Mercifully that time he came through. This one will be just as big a challenge.