It was not the most spectacular walkout in recent political history. Michael Heseltine still holds that accolade. On 9 January 1986, enraged by Margaret Thatcher’s behaviour over the Westland helicopter company, he strode out of her Cabinet and into the media scrum outside Number 10 like an angry lion. At that moment, the Thatcher premiership was in peril. She did survive. But it could be argued that Hezza had lit a very long blue touch paper, one which would eventually set off the explosion.
By contrast, Boris Johnson’s behaviour on Tuesday last week – walking out on his predecessor while she spoke in the Commons – seems merely a petty act of discourtesy. Yet it was not a trivial incident. It may tell us something about the looming implosion of his premiership. The responses around him were revealing.
