Partygate: Boris Johnson must stay as Prime Minister because 'there's a war on'? Tell that to Chamberlain and Asquith – Susan Morrison

Apparently, we can’t get rid of Boris Johnson because ‘there is a war on’.

Those claiming Boris Johnson must stay in office because of the Ukraine war appear to have forgotten their history (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/WPA pool/Getty Images)

Came as a surprise to me, but I stand ready to don my ARP tin helmet and stalk the streets shouting “Oi! Douse that light. Don’t you know there is a war on?”

Mind you, I’d be more inclined to shout “Oi! Put that light out. Don’t you know there's a leccy bill due?”

This “not-changing the chap in charge cos of a war somewhere else” doesn’t seem to have bothered the French, and usually one wrong move in French politics and you’re got tractors up your Champs-Élysées. Emitting an air of positively Parisian insouciance, our Gallic cousins are taking to the polling booths without so much as a zut alors.

Even here in Scotland, we defy the fear of wartime leadership change and are ploughing ahead with our council elections, confident that our democracy can handle the sweeping reforms that may hit with a change of leadership in say, Clackmannan or the Western Isles.

In any case, it's unlikely that any incoming councillors are going to demand we cosy up to Mad Vlad the Invader. Foreign policy here in Edinburgh lags a long way behind bins, trams and trams. Yes. I know. I listed trams twice. That’s how serious it is.

It’s not like we haven’t binned PM’s before in wartime. Asquith got his jotters in 1916 and we gave Chamberlain the old heave-ho in 1940, and those were actually our wars.

Let’s help Ukraine all we can, but it’s safe to say we can change the top dog without the Kremlin popping champagne.

Hang on, though. Who would we be stuck with? Mr Sunak? Not the shiny future Tory leader now. Anyway, it looks like he wants to go live in California. I’d drive him to the airport.

Liz Truss? A woman with a face set permanently to smug and an IQ to dim? Gove? Only if you can get him off the dance floor. ‘Handy’ Hancock, the office smoocher?

Oh. I think I can hear those bottles of Russian fizz being put on ice.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.