Today was never meant to have been this way. The plan had been to prorogue on Tuesday night ahead of next week’s elections and the state opening the week after. No need for Keir Starmer to face a last prime minister’s questions of the parliament. Time to catch his breath. Put his feet up. Recover from the near constant noise of the Peter Mandelson scandal and leadership challenges.
Start to prepare his excuses ahead of predicted losses. Pencil in a reshuffle. Some of his cabinet ministers were looking decidedly queasy on the government frontbench. Even the good ones. The chronicle of a death foretold. Always handy to have colleagues you can sacrifice to save your own skin. If only temporarily. When you are prime minister, every extra day in No 10 matters.
