Around 8.45pm last Saturday, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak emerged from an “ugly conference room” in Millbank Tower, a stone’s throw from parliament. “It looked like a call centre,” recalled one of their expectant aides, who had waited nervously outside since 7pm to see if the two biggest political beasts in the Conservative Party had come to a deal on who should run the country.
“It’s all done,” said Johnson, clearly in good spirits, “and Rishi has accepted that he will be chancellor.”
If those waiting took him seriously, they did so for just a fraction of a second. Sunak laughed and patted Johnson on the back, the man who had given him his biggest break in politics; the man, too, whom he had helped
