It is a cliche that the hardest job in politics is being the leader of the opposition – but when a vacancy at the heart of the government went unfilled for five months, Labour insiders joked that it was, instead, the role of Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser.
An awkward hole in the prime minister’s team had been created after the departure in November 2020 of Alex Allen, who quit as the adviser on ministerial interests after No 10 brushed aside his report accusing the home secretary, Priti Patel, of bullying.
