No one ever voted for Boris Johnson because they believed him to be truthful, morally upright, or even competent. But in the space of less than a year, he has been forced to resign as prime minister, as leader of the Conservative Party, and now as an MP, for lying.

Last year, a Tory rebellion forced him out of office. In November last year, the Daily Mirror made claims, later corroborated by incriminating photos and videos, that Johnson had hosted illegal parties in Downing Street and lied about them. This may seem trivial when compared to the other failings for which critics could have rightly pilloried the former prime minister. When compared to his lethal foot-dragging over implementing COVID-19 restrictions, his sleaze, and his corruption, lying about parties looks fairly minor.

Revelations of Johnson’s misdemeanors, which took place during the severest stretch of 2020’s lockdown, when people were unable to visit dying relatives, had the effect of severely worsening the Tories polling relative to rival parties. The incidents, their number is yet to be verified, confirmed people in their worst suspicions about the Conservatives: that they are a rich elite who do what they want when they want, while the majority suffer.