Distrust, disengagement and discord will be the disgraceful legacy of Boris Johnson | John Harris

The damage done by this prime minister's misrule goes way beyond him, his inner circle and even his party

As Boris Johnson and the Conservative party anxiously tread political water while repeatedly being pulled under by strife and disgrace, two plotlines are unfolding. One is about the immediate moment, and will reach another key juncture with the imminent report by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, which may finally focus wavering Tory minds on the impossibility of the prime minister's position. Meanwhile, amid new allegations of blackmail, rumours of yet more illicit gatherings and Dominic Raab's characteristically clever insistence that his boss is like a seasoned prizefighter" who has taken some knocks", another story is in danger of being lost: the dire implications of Johnson's antics for people's trust in politics, and a gap between Westminster and the country that may now be bigger than ever.

All those Downing Street and Whitehall parties - along with the prime minister's evasions, half-apologies and desperate attempts to shore himself up - have been reported in terms of shock-horror revelation. But for many voters, they will confirm longstanding ideas about the kind of people who run the country, or aspire to.

John Harris is a Guardian columnist