We’re just not feeling it, Rishi: ‘Vibes’ and the powers of positive thinking don’t always give you the boost that you want, Prime Minister

Last week was one of the busiest we’ve had in Parliament in months. 

The public’s eyes were crossed wondering where to look; Rishi Sunak would have preferred you to have been looking at his attempts to clear up his own government’s mess in the form of the Windsor Framework. Many looked at former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Committee of Privileges testimony, which happened at the same time.

Johnson attempted to scunner Sunak’s plans - to no avail - by voting against the so-called ‘Stormont Brake’. It was a desperate move from Johnson who in recent months has become a rather isolated presence in Westminster, and found himself among only a tiny minority of Conservative rebels from ‘The Awkward Squad’ performatively angry at Sunak over seemingly nothing.

Save for the occasional ‘nudge’ in the headlines or a protest from Lord Cruddas, among Johnson’s marginal acolytes in the CDO [Conservative Democratic Organisation], you’d be forgiven for thinking that Johnson had more or less stepped away from politics altogether.

On Wednesday last week, however, he attempted - and mostly failed - to galvanise support from his former MPs and his loyal followers and members, by sticking his head above the parapet and begging the public for perhaps one last time to, ‘look at me!’

We did - many of us - but it just gave us 4 more hours worth of reasons to hate him more than we already did. Sunak, for his part, succeeded - not just in winning the political standoff with his own party but in also making himself centre of attention. There was an irony in this insofar as Sunak is not a politician known for desiring attention.