NO one saw it coming.
Even as Bozza rambled on and on and on in what we thought was his leadership bid speech, none of the audience crammed into a London hotel conference room had any idea of what was about to happen.
In fact, we were all just recovering from the unexpected bombshell announcement that Michael Gove, who had repeatedly said he did not want the top job - no, nay, never - had decided to throw his hat in the ring.
After an email from the Gover’s wife the day before – inadvertently made public, allegedly – that the Scot should not give his support to Bozza before he got a good deal ie the promise of a top job, one got the distinct impression that not all was as well as one would have thought on the back of the Brexit victory between Messrs G and J, who had worked so closely together to achieve success in getting Britain out of the EU.
The tousle-haired Bozza arrived late for his speech but did so to a great roar from the rows of MPs there to support his bid. Much of the address was about his achievements as London mayor and it seemed to be building slowly, albeit in the Uxbridge MP’s idiosyncratic way, to a grand climax.
After insisting that the agenda for the next PM would be to "seize this chance and make this our moment to stand tall in the world", Bozza, looking dog-tired, then drew a breath and said: "I must tell you, my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punchline of this speech, that having consulted colleagues, and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me.”
For a moment, the world stopped. People looked at each other as if to say: “Did he really say what I think I heard him say?”
Then the blonde Beatle was off; through, perhaps appropriately, the emergency exit.
Aides were in tears. Supportive MPs expressed disbelief as the lead Leaver left the leadership stage.
Talk quickly turned to the “great treachery” of the Gover. Some MPs were more restrained than others and spoke only of their great disappointment but one or two could not hide their bitterness against the Scot. “The bastard!” noted one.
As cries of betrayal rang out, over in the Commons Tory opponents were having a great deal of fun at the Conservatives’ expense, none more so than Alex Salmond.
The former SNP chief asked Commons Leader Chris Grayling: "Can we have a week-long debate on political backstabbing?
"We're going to need a week because all of the PLP will want to take part but they are rank amateurs compared to[Mr Gove], the Lord Macbeth of this chamber, who having dispatched the Prime Minister today is dispatching the Prime Minister's greatest rival.”
As blood seeps from underneath the doors of Westminster, politics is taking on a Shakespearean air with cries of treachery and knives being plunged into backs and fronts.
And this, gentle reader, is only Act One.
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