WHERE were you when Boris Johnson’s government collapsed? For most of Westminster’s power brokers, the answer would have been drinking at one of SW1’s endless boozy summer parties.
Rewind 12 months from this week and the golden boy-turned-troubled Chancellor Rishi Sunak had just quit – and the pop went out of BoJo’s premiership quicker than a glass of warm fizz.
One year on, party season was in full swing again this week. But the Tory psychodrama lingered like July’s rain clouds – ready to bucket down once again on the government’s parade.
Sunak – now PM – put on a brave face as he pressed the flesh, rictus grin fixed trying to project optimism and confidence.
But he’s had a bruising few weeks.