The Houdini PM who confounds his critics at every turn

IT WAS two years ago today that Boris Johnson was summoned to Buckingham Palace to kiss the Queen’s hand and thereby confirm his appointment as Prime Minister.

- Patrick O'Flynn

So dominant has his personality been over British politics since then that it is startling to think that he is only just reaching his second anniversary of coming to power.

The list of significant achievements and events already attached to his Downing Street tenure tells us both that it has been a frenetic period and that he is no ordinary politician: he secured a new withdrawal agreement with the EU despite “experts” saying this was impossible; removed the Tory whip from dozens of pro-EU MPs; was compelled to reconvene the Commons after his prorogation of it was deemed unlawful by the highest court in the land; forced an early general election after a hung parliament would not ratify his Brexit deal; won said election by a landslide on the basis of his promise to “Get Brexit Done”; got Brexit done; got divorced; had a child with his then girlfriend; ran slap into the worst pandemic in living memory; was hospitalised and very nearly killed by it; reached a future relationship deal with the EU despite “experts” saying this was impossible; spearheaded a brilliant independent British vaccines policy; presided over 128,000 Covid deaths; got married again at the age of 56 and is today marking his second anniversary in splendid isolation at Chequers after getting “pinged”. Phew.