PM in the spotlight

There must have been hopes in 10 Downing Street that the Jubilee would calm the febrile political machinations currently under way in Westminster that threaten to undermine the Prime Minister’s leadership.

Yet, perversely, it might have had the opposite effect. The booing of Mr Johnson as he arrived for Friday’s service in St Paul’s must have unsettled him, coming as it did from people whose very presence at the event suggests at least a small-c conservative inclination.

In addition, MPS have been in their constituencies meeting more constituents than usual at Jubilee events and picking up opinions about the state of the Government. They are unlikely to have been encouraged by what they heard. The Tories are on course to lose the by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton on June 23. What remains unclear is whether the PM will face a motion of no confidence before those two contests or after.

This depends on whether Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, has received the necessary 54 letters from MPS requesting a vote, or will do so once the Commons returns today.

Whatever the timing, a vote now seems inevitable. Mr Johnson is doing his utmost to shore up his position among core supporters by pledging to deal with the Northern Ireland protocol and extending right-to-buy to housing association homes.

Mr Johnson’s allies say that plotting against him is self-defeating as he will win a confidence vote and carry on. Perhaps so. But if he wants to do so without irreparable damage to his authority, he needs to give the Party a clear exposition of where he is leading it.