BORIS Johnson is in many ways a politician who breaks the mould, but becoming the first serving British prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law is now likely to define his political career.
Having repeatedly assured MPs that he "followed the guidance at all times" during lockdowns, he is also guilty of misleading the House of Commons – telling outright lies, in the opinion of many.
Resignation would normally be the only course of action, except that Mr Johnson’s behaviour throughout his premiership, and most of his public and private life, suggests he believes rules and standards that bind others somehow do not apply to him.
In this case he has been found by police to have broken laws he set himself and which millions carefully followed, often at great personal sacrifice.
While the fines issued to the prime minister, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak relate to one birthday celebration, Mr Johnson presided over a culture of flagrant law-breaking at the heart of government. He no longer has the moral authority to govern.
How long he survives is now in the hands of Conservative MPs as well as the public, who will deliver their verdict at local government elections next month.
For the sake of his party and standards in public life in general, Mr Johnson should go now.
