As former health secretary Sajid Javid said in his resignation speech, “a team is only as good as its captain” who is “willing to put the interests of others before his own”.
The party’s survival, he rightly pointed out, depended not only on restoring people’s confidence but on reaffirming “the Conservative ideal that we believe in decency, personal responsibility and the social justice made possible by convention and the rule of law”.
Now that the Big Dog seems to have had his day, can faith be restored to the party faithful? Even Nigel Farage seems to think so, arguing that Mr Johnson’s departure provides an opportune moment for a “proper reset”.
For the party to have any chance of winning the next general election, there is little doubt that it needs to reinvent Toryism in the small, low-tax state that has seen it win more elections than any of its rivals since the 1830s.
Much of the criticism leveled at Mr Johnson in recent months has been as much about his lack of performance as his lack of judgement. Not only has his character and competence been called into question, but so has his conservatism.
The Prime Minister was elected 31 months ago based on clear manifesto promises. Underlined in bold, the ambition was: “Deliver Brexit. Investing in our public services and infrastructure. Supporting workers and families. Strengthening the Union. Unlocking Britain’s potential.
Although he cannot be held responsible for the pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is a palpable sense that Mr Johnson has failed to produce the benefits of what Margaret Thatcher famously described as Conservative “facts of life”.
Big on promises but short on delivery, the prime minister left Brexiteers wondering when exactly he would pull the levers to make Britain the “global leader in free trade” as he promised.
Businesses big and small are left wondering what happened to the promise to make the UK the most competitive country in Europe.
Voters were left wondering what had happened to the pledge to finally resolve the migrant crisis in the English Channel.
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