Never mind Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak is central to the UK's Covid mess | Owen Jones

Beholden to the private sector, the chancellor fought an autumn lockdown - and we've all paid the price

Such sycophancy would have embarrassed the official broadcaster of a tinpot dictatorship. Back at the end of July, during the coronavirus interregnum and after the deaths of 40,000 Britons, the BBC cast Rishi Sunak as Superman in a video detailing his plan to save the UK economy". After considerable uproar, the broadcaster removed the cartoon for editorial reasons", saying that the illustrations struck the wrong note".

But it is indisputable that after Dishy Rishi" was plucked from obscurity by the now fallen Dominic Cummings, large chunks of the commentariat and the wider electorate went gooey-eyed over the chancellor. In homage to his flagship eat out to help out" scheme, restaurants named meals after him, newspaper front pages lauded him as DR FEELGOOD TO THE RESCUE". In mid-April, according to a YouGov poll, over half the country believed he was doing a good job (just 9% thought he was doing a bad job).

His approachable demeanour and wearing of hoodies on Instagram makes him appear different to your average Tory

Related: This crisis isn't just for Christmas, but for months to come - Britain needs leadership | Gaby Hinsliff

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist