A lot of us journos who knew Boris from his city hall days have said this since the beginning.

Boris likes the IDEA of leadership more than leading. Same as he seems to like the idea of relationships more than being in them.

He just likes 'winning', and people seeing he's 'won' https://twitter.com/CPJElmore/status/1264462699263676418

Everything is about conquest and ownership with Boris. It's about having more toys and titles than WHOEVER he has decided are his peers at any given moment.

He wants to be loved. He wants to be acclaimed. He wants to be envied.

He DOESN'T want to actually do anything himself.

Boris would rather be King than PM. Simply because he likes being a figurehead, not a manager.

Now don't get me wrong: there are certain circumstances when that can be quite useful. AS LONG AS the people actually doing the work are smart, and manage upwards.

This was true, most of the time, in London, not least because Henry, as Transport Commissioner, was a smart political operator who DID passionately care about doing London Transport right. Same was true in other areas.

Bit it VERY VISIBLY failed whenever there was no option BUT for the leadership to come from the very top.

Most prominent example: The London riots, when Boris refused to cut his holiday short then panicked and Half-arsed the response until Theresa May stepped in as Home Sec.

The problem for Boris now is that as PM, he CAN'T surround himself with a protective circle of technocrats to actually do the work, like he did in London or could do as Foreign Sec.

He has to use Tory politicians. Worse, the kind who would agree to serve under a glory leach.

Which is why we've ended up with a Cabinet full of Skeletor's minions and call centre middle managers. Which would be fine if they were led by Skelator. Maybe. But they're not. They're led by another minion who just happens to be more charismatic and cut-throat than the rest.

And this is also why Boris will do ANYTHING to keep Cummings in post. Cummings is his ONLY technocrat (from Boris perspective). The only one offering to do the work that Boris doesn't mistrust (Gove), politically dominate (Sunak) or know are fucking useless (the rest)

It's also why he will HAPPILY burn everyone else's political credit (through WhatsApp cut and paste demands) to try and keep Cummings in post. Because he doesn't give a shit about making the rest of the Cabinet look bad.

What terrifies him is the thought of having to do the work

ADDENDUM: Hendy not Henry. Fucking autocorrect should ignore every word that starts with a capital letter. I'm not a child. I know how to type. Grrr.