Boris Johnson, already the forgotten prime minister

What is striking is the eclipse of the myth of his possible return to high office, writes John Rentoul

Suddenly Boris Johnson seems to belong to a different era (AFP/Getty)

One of the commentators on the Queen’s last days seemed familiar. Blonde hair, trademark pauses and repetitions. He spoke about how “bright” and “focused” she had been at their last meeting, two days before she died.

It was like watching a documentary in which half-forgotten dignitaries had been dug out from retirement to offer their great thoughts. Notionally, he was prime minister until 11 days ago, but he seemed to have checked out long before that, even before his “Hasta la vista, baby” in the House of Commons two months ago. And since then he has been on holiday and parliament has been in recess, while all the attention of the political classes was on the two contenders for the Conservative leadership.

Then the death of the Queen was one of those firebreak moments in which the national memory banks were wiped, and suddenly Boris Johnson seems to belong to a different era. He paid tribute to Her Majesty in the Commons on the day after her death, winning the kind of praise that is reserved for harmless elder statespeople on their way to becoming national treasures.

All those articles we wrote a few days ago assessing his legacy have already disappeared into the filing cabinets of the mind labelled “the past”. He has one enduring legacy, of Getting Brexit Done, even if it is not finished yet, but everything else is disappearing fast under a tide of amnesia.

What is most striking, though, is the eclipse of the myth of his possible return to high office. His personality loomed large over the Tory leadership contest, as the conviction that he was betrayed by Rishi Sunak seemed to grip a significant minority of party members. The subtext of his farewell to the Commons was: “I’ll be back.”

When his resignation honours list is finally published, there may be mutterings about how he is aiming to create a Boris bloc in the House of Lords, of maybe 30 peers altogether. Combined with his small band of irreconcilables in the Commons, he might have a larger parliamentary force than Change UK ever did.

But when politics resumes on Tuesday, it will be without him. If Liz Truss fails, the Conservative Party will not turn to Johnson to rescue it from its foolish error, as he sees it, in dispensing with its leader of destiny. The caravan of history has moved on.

Yours,

John Rentoul

Chief political commentator