BORIS Johnson is a student of Shakespeare – but today he is the victim of his own Roman tragedy after being brutally knifed by pals.
Once the ultimate popular leader who defied political gravity, his premiership has been brought crashing down by his own Tory troops.
His bloody ousting is the climax of a spectacular fall from grace after storming to a huge landslide less than three years ago.
Today he flaunted his seismic 2019 mandate from the British people and blamed the Tory “herd” for removing him.
He said: “I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.”
But his administration has also been rocked by a string of woes including Partygate and sleaze scandals.
Here are the highs and lows of his premiership.
July 2019 – PM Boris
Boris Johnson beats Jeremy Hunt to win the race for the Tory crown. By far the runaway favourite to succeed Theresa May, BoJo won the day.
December 2019 – Landslide election
Mr Johnson called an election to solve the Parliamentary paralysis over Brexit. On a platform to Get Brexit Done, he demolished Jeremy Corbyn to win a stonking 80-seat majority. It was a seismic shift in politics as the Tories bulldozed Labour’s Red Wall.
March 2020 – Lockdown
The PM took the extraordinary step of locking down the nation to deal with the Covid threat.
He shot up in the polls as Brits rallied round the wartime PM and oversaw massive furlough cash.
May 2020 – Cummings scandal
Mr Johnson expended a huge amount of political capital defending top aide Dominic Cummings. Cummings was accused of breaking lockdown rules by driving to Durham.
December 2020 – First vaccine
Britain led the world as our vaccine rollout got underway. Mr Johnson won huge praise the UK charged ahead with jabs.
January 2021 – Brexit done
Brexit was finally pushed over the line as Boris Johnson’s deal kicked in and the UK left all the EU’s institutions.
May 2021 – Hartlepool win
On a wave of vaccine optimism Mr Johnson won a historic victory in the Hartlepool by-election and eyed a decade in power.
July 2021 – End of Covid
Mr Johnson lifts the last Covid restrictions and claims credit for steering the country through the pandemic.
November 2021 – Paterson scandal
The PM was put through the wringer for trying to change the rules to protect shamed MP Owen Paterson. He was later forced into a humiliating U-turn.
December 2021 – Partygate
The first reports of lockdown-busting parties in Downing St emerged. The Partygate story dogged Mr Johnson’s premiership for months.
February 2022 – Ukraine war
Mr Johnson led the Western response to Putin’s invasion with support for Ukraine and Russian sanctions.
April 2022 – PM fined
Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak were both fined for a rule-breaking party in the Cabinet Room for the PM’s birthday.
May 2022 – Local elections disaster
The Tories lose hundreds of seats in the local elections including Conservative jewels in London.
July 2022 – Chris Pincher scandal
Downing St was thrown into crisis with Trending In The News’s story reporting allegations that Chris Pincher groped two men in the Carlton club.
Mr Johnson’s botched handling of the saga triggered a wave of resignations.
