FINALLY, Boris has accepted - leave means leave.
Removal vans were this morning spotted outside the stucco-fronted grace and favour home at 1 Carlton Gardens just off the Mall, which he enjoyed as Foreign Secretary.
Yet it has taken him three weeks to finally say goodbye to the trappings of office after quitting the Cabinet earlier this month in a blazing row over Theresa May's Brexit plans, which he denounced as turning Britain into an EU colony.
One lorry and a minivan were parked behind the black gates of the property. Both vehicles were from the Restore Harrow Green firm, which states on its website that its specialities include business removals and international relocations.
A series of white boxes were loaded into the lorry along with what appeared to be a large painting, a luxury armchair and a case of Jacques Depagneux wine; the last vestiges of Boris’s time in high office.
His departure comes days after anti-Brexit campaigners staged a stunt by offering to help him move.
Last week, a handful of protesters parked a van featuring the slogan Leave Means Leave Removals Ltd outside the residence.
Campaigners from For our Future's Sake and Our Future Our Choice dressed up in overalls and brought cardboard boxes to the gates of the property.
As the real removal men moved in a Foreign Office spokesman explained: "Former ministers are expected to leave official residences as quickly as practicable at the end of their tenure, taking into account their personal circumstances and family requirements; we can confirm there is no additional cost to taxpayers involved."
Mr Johnson was not the first Foreign Secretary to stay in the plush residence for a period after his tenure.
When Robin Cook was ousted from the Foreign Office and demoted to Commons leader in 2001, he was allowed to hang on to a "granny flat" above the new occupant in Carlton Gardens for - two years.
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