Johnson is not ready to back down in the fight to preserve his legacy
Boris Johnson could be spending his time savouring his last moments as the leader of his country, taking the trappings of power out for one final spin. Instead, he appears to have become almost morbidly preoccupied with a parliamentary inquiry into partygate that has lost its sting thanks to his imminent departure from No 10.
The Prime Minister is so agitated by the affair that the Cabinet Office commissioned advice about the inquiry’s legality from no less a figure than Lord Pannick QC, one of the country’s most eminent legal brains.
Why has the privileges committee got under Mr Johnson’s skin? He will, after all, be a backbencher by the time it meets to discuss his behaviour; it cannot take away from him that which he has already lost.
Three possibilities have been raised by those who know the Prime Minister: that he still harbours hopes of a comeback and therefore needs to keep his seat in Parliament; that he is trying to limit the already extensive damage to his legacy; and that he fears fresh details about goings-on in Downing Street could yet emerge, that might even attract the interest of the police.
The latter scenario is the least likely, according to those who have been alongside him in No10, because the police and Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who produced a report into partygate, have already sifted the ashes of every inflammatory get-together held during lockdown.
The other two theories are given much more credence by the Prime Minister’s friends. “He definitely hasn’t given up on the idea of a comeback,” said one ally. “It is still in his mind, though you would struggle to find anyone beyond him and [his wife] Carrie who think that could happen.”
A ministerial or prime ministerial return would be impossible if Mr Johnson was no longer an MP – which is a distinct possibility if the committee finds against him and imposes the sort of punishment that could trigger a recall petition in his constituency.
Those who know him best, however, believe Mr Johnson is fretting over his legacy. “He could be the first prime minister in history to be ejected from the House of Commons,” said the same ally, “and that would not be a very welcome footnote to his career”.
He is also angry and frustrated at the way Labour managed to outmanoeuvre him and, more specifically, his whips, by omitting the words “deliberately” or “knowingly” in front of the word “misled” from Sir Keir Starmer’s motion that brought the inquiry into being.
He has accused the whip’s office of dropping the ball by failing to spot the ruse and believes he is the victim of foul play.
Lord Pannick agrees, saying that the privileges committee is “proposing to adopt an unfair procedure”.
Prime ministers do not tend to get to the top of politics by being good losers, and Mr Johnson, with little else to do as he keeps his seat warm for his successor, is desperate to best his opposite number.
If Mr Johnson is to leave Parliament, however, and return to a career as an author, columnist and speaker, it is clear that he wants to do it on his terms.