From conference highs to the abyss: the swift undoing of Boris Johnson

Less than four months ago, the PM was riding high and telling jokes in Manchester, a world away from where he is now

It was not meant to fall apart as fast as this. After Boris Johnson won the general election in December 2019, he declared in a victory address: I, and we, will never take your support for granted."

The prime minister's 80-seat majority, a victory for the get Brexit done" campaign, appeared to leave him impregnable. For 18 months after, Johnson continued to defy political gravity despite repeated missteps, as the pandemic came to Britain's shores.