Boris Johnson probably regrets he ripped up the rulebook in November 2020 by refusing to sack Priti Patel despite a formal investigation finding evidence that she bullied civil servants.

After a Cabinet Office inquiry, Sir Alex Allan (his own ethics adviser) said the home secretary’s conduct “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying” – noting instances of shouting and swearing, and finding that she had breached the ministerial code.