The public’s faith in government could slip after Hancock

The departure of Matt Hancock in one sense follows a British political tradition – voters don’t always expect ministers to behave well, but the merest sniff of hypocrisy can spell doom.

The man who literally, had his name on Covid laws that governed our private behaviour, couldn’t stay during a job when he had broken the principles himself.

But there are many strands that make it a really modern mess.

First, I cannot consider another prime minister in times who would have tried to hold on to Mr Hancock to start with – not because he had an affair, but because he was so obviously displaying double standards.

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Questions facing the PM over Hancock resignation
Matt Hancock: status former health secretary
But Boris Johnson as prime minister almost has an allergy to giving ministers the sack.

His backers would say it’s an admirable trait, showing loyalty to his people.

Priti Patel didn’t lose her job when she was found to possess behaved badly to staff.

Robert Jenrick wasn’t given his marching orders when he was found to possess given planning permission unlawfully benefitting a Tory donor to the tune of many pounds.

But Number 10’s detractors would say Boris Johnson never wants to act because his own slate is a smaller amount than clean.

As one insider puts it ,”he never wants to be the one to strike the blow because he’s not beyond reproach”.

And Boris Johnson hates being told what to try to to .

So when opposition parties involve resignations or recriminations, this prime minister is more likely to dig in than subside .

Brazening out the bumps has long been his personal tactic.

Even today, when he was asked why he had not sacked Mr Hancock, he dangled the implication that he had actually , taken action to urge him out.

Erm, on Friday, Number 10 said the matter was closed.

On Saturday night Downing Street made clear the PM had not forced him out.

On Monday ahead of the cameras, Mr Johnson though was quite happy to offer the impression of a rather different course of events.

And Number 10’s attitude makes Tory MPs, including some ministers, feel shaky.

One backbencher told me it “makes us worry about statecraft”.

“The government has enormous power” and “it must show the responsibility that comes with that”, they said.

A minister worries, “there may be a cumulative impact”, and a creeping concern about the “impression that the govt has slipped its moral moorings”.

Another told me that while sometimes things fail , “we should be doing things right and properly altogether circumstances”.

In the early a part of his time responsible , Boris Johnson’s administration relished rule breaking and enjoyed provocation.

Having marketed himself as a pacesetter happy to defy convention, giving little reference to process was a part of the political brand.

Brexiteers were those pushing against Westminster’s grain.

If a couple of rules got bashed about, or processes ignored, so be it.

But one among his ministers worries now that “we are taking this too far”, citing concerns in Tory ranks about how public jobs are being apportioned , especially how non-executive directors are appointed to government departments .

There is the sense of a habit developed during the foremost turbulent days of the Brexit arguments – political force has got to be met with force, but some MPs wonder, what’s the logic with such a huge majority?

There is another argument that in the emergency of the pandemic, ignoring process was the proper thing to try to to .

With lives at stake, the formalities of normal government business were suspended.

But one senior figure suggests that the loosening of the principles when decisions had to be taken urgently has set a worrying precedent.

With Boris Johnson’s massive majority these fears aren’t getting to give Number 10 sleepless nights, but neither his front nor his backbenches feel entirely comfortable , with a foreboding sense of what could be next during this extraordinary year.

Images from CCTV of personal offices are published, ending the political career of 1 minister.

Private messages of the prime minister are leaked now on several occasions too.

One of those that has revealed a number of those messages, Dominic Cummings, is even providing his own sometimes moment by moment commentary on political events too, tweeting earlier on Monday using the prime minister’s nickname “trolley”.

Dominic Cummings

Mr Cummings has for weeks now been trying to wreck Mr Hancock, and therefore the Prime Minister too.

It is not that surprising that he has piled during this way in summer 2021, but it seems we are thus far now from anything that might relatively recently are described as ‘normal’.

Politics has long been a business where human flaws are on display.

There is nothing new about politicians’ private lives going wrong.

And recent events are often dismissed by Boris Johnson’s backers – polls suggest he’s popular, so, so what?

But for some in his own tribe what has been happening certainly does matter, not due to any particular act, mistake or mishap, but because when “the veneer of the good ship of state slips” thanks to affairs or leaked texts, process seems to be ignored.

And, together minster puts it, the public’s faith in government could well slip too.