Boris Johnson faces ultimate survival test

ANALYSIS: Boris Johnson has made it clear he will have to be dragged out of Number 10 despite all the odds against him. And this could well be another mess he can bluff his way out of.

ANALYSIS: Boris Johnson has made clear he will have to be dragged out of Number 10 kicking and screaming despite all the odds against him.

The UK Prime Minister has lost the numbers in the House of Commons and taken a major hit in the Supreme Court, yet he still leads in the published opinion polls.

If he can survive a fiery session of parliament and get a general election it’s likely he could win a majority and push through his agenda.

Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, has been a rabble and cannot decide what position to take on Brexit despite having a party conference in Brighton this week where the issue was debated.

Boris Johnson is likely to use the unanimous court ruling this week that he fibbed to the Queen as a campaign tool. Picture: AP

So they will be asking voters, when there is an election, to vote for a second referendum on Brexit but they won’t tell them what they think about it until after they have the keys to parliament.

It doesn’t pass the pub test — they think voters are stupid.

Mr Johnson is likely to use the unanimous court ruling this week that he fibbed to the Queen as a campaign tool.

He will position himself as against the establishment who want to frustrate attempts for Britain to leave the European Union.

The parliamentary stalemate was expected to last at least until after October 31 so Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs can guarantee that Mr Johnson will not crash out of the EU without a deal as he had warned he would do.

That would cause food and medicine shortages in the UK, according to a doomsday government report, but also hurt European economies, particularly Ireland.

Boris Johnson was forced to make a mad dash from New York to London after the ruling. Picture: AFP

Mr Johnson was hoping to spend his week in New York ironing out a deal on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which appeared to be getting close.

Instead, he’s had to deal with one of the toughest phone calls in his life when he spoke to the Queen following that court ruling and then fly back to London.

Now he’s fighting with one hand tied behind his back.

He should send Jeremy Corbyn a Christmas card, because the Labour leader’s extreme left policies are the only thing keeping him in a job.

If Labour had voted to go with deputy Tom Watson at their conference this week, they would have had a chance at the next election, which is likely to be called for November.

Brexit, which was passed in a vote three years ago now, will be delayed again if there is no breakthrough in negotiations before a European Summit on October 17.

In the political game of poker, Mr Johnson has just been dealt a very weak hand. But he appears determined to bluff his way through, which might actually work because his opposition cannot decide what to do.

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Originally published as Boris Johnson faces ultimate survival test