The Johnson rollercoaster could derail in the year of Brexit and virus

BORIS Johnson celebrates his first year in Downing Street this week. While he scored a huge election win last December, which could see him in office for much of the 2020s, the rollercoaster ride that his premiership is proving to be means his term could yet end far sooner.

Perhaps the most revealing insight into his style of governing came last year from his Cabinet colleague Michael Gove. Prior to December's election, Mr Johnson's administration lacked a majority in the House of Commons, and there were a significant number of commentators who wondered whether he might become the shortest-serving premier in UK history - a "distinction" held by George Canning, who served for only 119 days in 1827.

Last autumn, when Mr Johnson's government was losing a significant number of votes in the House of Commons, Mr Gove related a story of how Mr Johnson tried to rally the Cabinet. He said to them that "it is like motocross, you have to hang on and it will get bumpier and bumpier and all this stuff will fly in your face. But in the end, you hang on and you will get through".