When the Prime Minister muttered “forgive me...forgive me...” during a visit to the North East, he probably had little idea how soon the forgiveness would run out.
That speech to business leaders in South Shields - famous for its rambling about Peppa Pig, comparing himself to Moses, pretending to be a car and losing his place twice - was not what brought him down in the end, though in many ways it did foreshadow his political demise and encapsulate many of the things that were wrong with his premiership.
Arriving unprepared, Mr Johnson tried to fall back on his humour and trademark positivity to win over the room. The politicians, business leaders and heads of universities eager to hear some substance about his much-vaunted levelling up agenda were not fooled. When some hostile questions came his way about the disastrous Integrated Rail Review, he called an end to matters and left, sharpish.
