Boris Johnson hired his own executioner when he appointed Nadhim Zahawi
In the end it took a politician as ruthless and ambitious as Boris himself to deliver the coup de grace.
In appointing Nadhim Zahawi as Chancellor, the Prime Minister hired his own executioner.
The former mayor will, when he recovers his wits, probably not mind too much,
recognising more kinship with a Tory who shares some of his genetic disposition to win
than he did with
the Javids and Sunaks who delayed their resignations out of gratitude or timidity.
He will also understand the brutal political necessity for Zahawi to commit
regicide after just a day in his post or be forever pigeonholed as one of what
Sir Keir Starmer branded the “nodding dogs” of the Cabinet.
After covering four gory Westminster coups to oust sitting Tory leaders over the past four decades,
I have come to see a pattern to these spectacles.