There are many names for Johnson's (dis)honours list

You would think that having to be almost forcibly removed from the office of prime minister would have left Boris Johnson with a rather shorter-than-average list of people to thank. But you would, inevitably, be wrong.

- TOM PECK

It is being whispered around Westminster, and in The Times newspaper, that the ex- (for the time being) prime minister has a resignation honours list of over a hundred names. That, for the record, is an average of one gong per 10 days in office.

Theresa May, whose term was mere days shorter, dared just 40 names in hers (though she had her own reasons: having once joked that seeing David Cameron's own resignation honours list had made her "retch violently", she probably knew that once she'd knighted her own husband she'd probably have to leave it there).

At least Johnson has been wise enough to exist for some time in a realm beyond shame, thus sparing himself any of that kind of agonising hypocrisy. And it's not all his fault. Johnson, you will surely recall, was badly let down by a very large number of successive teams of advisers, so he's simply got a lot more thank yous to get through than most.

When your Downing Street operation has to be rebooted more often than a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, who can possibly complain when the great man finds himself with so very many people who simply must be rewarded for all they do?