We are five days in to Boris Johnson’s tenure as PM. Already, it feels longer.
It has been a whirlwind of frantic promises. He has certainly hit the ground running. But, as people who have seen him in action will testify, it doesn’t take long to see through him.
His hastily delivered speech on the steps of Downing Street was typical Johnson – sketchy, light on detail, a rehash of old funding; delivered with a rhetorical flourish, a burst of optimism and a fixed grin that says, “Please don’t ask me any questions about this”.
He promised extra police numbers, then just hours later his own policing minister said it would be a “logistical problem”.
It’s a typical example of how Mr Johnson works. Look at his cabinet. Not picked on the basis of ability. Picked because of their hardline stance on Brexit. But when the man in charge is a chancer, what does it matter if his lieutenants are up to the job?
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Mr Johnson’s rise to PM is an incredible feat. Probably the ultimate con trick. By convincing a small number of Tory members he’s the real deal, we’re all lumbered with him.
Just look at his record as Mayor of London. He promised he would oppose the expansion of Heathrow. Instead, he disappeared rather than have to vote on it.
He promised to end rough sleeping in the capital. Instead, when he was in charge, it rose by 130 per cent. He signed a pledge to keep all the ticket offices on the Tube open. Instead, he shut them all.
And woven in with all this is a catalogue of failed ventures, expensive vanity projects and opaque funding.
Now he’s at it in the north. He bounced into Manchester yesterday pledging a new rail line. But within minutes of making his promise, it unravelled. Because it’s not new. It’s been promised time and again. And never delivered.
This is a government built on sand. It won’t be long before it slips through his fingers.
