Not least because of the exceptional effort that went into suppressing the story, it’s looking increasingly likely that the prime minister has, as alleged, been moonlighting – with mixed success – as Carrie Johnson’s agent. But as ever with Johnson, it’s probably futile to hope that further achievements in polluting public life will be ruinous to his prospects.
Where does “known nepotist tried more nepotism” even rank beside the transgressions he’s survived? If it’s worse than blagging a £112,000 flat refurb and soliciting a £150,000 treehouse from the same donor, it’s not as reprehensible as repeatedly breaking your own health legislation, lying about it, then becoming the first sitting prime minister to get a fixed penalty notice. And that delinquency was arguably less sinister than the broader ethical attrition that is his trademark, from humiliating ethics advisers to the attempt to save Owen Paterson, by changing the rules, from suspension by the committee on standards in public life (CSPL). That’s the committee already accommodating a fellow former member of the Bullingdon Club, an appointment Labour described as “rampant sleaze”.
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