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A little local difficulty does not turn into a perfect storm without the elements having been brewing in the background over many years. The Cummings affair was always going to happen,

sooner or later. Rage over Brexit, contempt for Boris Johnson, resentment of the political class, the long march of the Left through the institutions and professions, the frustrations of the

young and the fears of the elderly have all been around for years. What has brought all these and many other disparate factors together is, of course, Covid-19. The country has had a grim

and frightening experience, from which nobody has been exempt. A normally tolerant nation has been tested to the limit and its charitable instincts are temporarily in short supply. In this

combustible atmosphere, the quixotic figure of Dominic Cummings acted like a spark that has ignited a conflagration. Everyone could project their own beef onto the Prime Minister’s embattled

consigliere. From the unneighbourly neighbours in Islington (incited by their MP, Emily Thornberry) and the bristling bishops of the established Church to the disgusted Tories of the

shires, marmalade and muesli have been dropping on breakfast tables all over the land. The polling numbers are dire: more than 71 per cent of the public believes that Cummings broke the

rules by driving to Durham, and both the Conservatives and their leader are losing popularity by the day.   For Boris Johnson, this crisis is especially alarming because he has no obvious

escape route. Having stood before the world and defended his aide, he cannot now throw him overboard without serious damage to his own credibility and authority. It matters little that he is

barely six months into his premiership. Many Prime Ministers before him have found themselves caught up in events beyond their control from which their reputations have never fully

recovered. John Major’s authority was destroyed by Black Wednesday before he had really got started. Ted Heath’s government was blown off course by a global energy crisis. Harold Wilson

could not overcome the blow to his prestige inflicted by devaluation. Eden ruined himself over Suez, Chamberlain over Munich, Macmillan over Profumo, Cameron and May over Europe. If Johnson

does not act quickly, he could wreck his reputation too. The underlying problem is the pandemic, but the proximate cause of the public’s loss of trust is the PM’s own perceived hypocrisy in

protecting his widely loathed lieutenant. It does not matter that double standards are scarcely a political novelty. During the Blitz, Winston Churchill dined at the Savoy Grill (then, as

now, one of the best restaurants in London) before ascending to watch the bombing from the rooftop balcony of the commandeered Shell Building next door. The then Prime Minister thereby

disdained not only the rationing and safety regulations by which he expected others to abide, but prudence too. He drank Pol Roger and smoked Havanas every day, throughout wartime and

postwar austerity too. Yet nobody objected. If anyone had done so, they would have been “marked down” (to use a Johnsonian phrase about Cummings) as mean-spirited. A grateful nation does not

begrudge its saviour his creature comforts.   The trouble for the Tories is that this coronavirus crisis is by no means over. As long as we are not out of the lockdown or the pandemic, let

alone the recession that they have precipitated, any suggestion of “one rule for them, another for us” is toxic. Class still matters in Britain, even if the politics of envy has never

triumphed here. Over the last bank holiday weekend, it was noticed by less affluent Londoners that the well-heeled districts of the capital were deserted, as those with second homes quietly

decamped to them. Rules or no rules, escaping from urban lockdown is now an imperative for those with somewhere to go. The Cummings affair is an excuse rather than a cause, but

non-compliance for the law-abiding always needs an excuse. So what does Boris Johnson do to regain the trust of the nation? He needs to move on, but this is easier said than done.

Fortunately there is light at the end of the tunnel. The death toll is falling fast, the invisible enemy is visibly retreating, and there is no sign of a second wave here or anywhere else.

Hence the lockdown can probably be relaxed more rapidly than seemed possible when he began the process a month ago. Leaving lockdown was always going to be harder than entering it — but the

Cummings affair has made coming out more complicated. From the man himself, now that he has put his case to the public, a period of silence would be welcome.   Meanwhile, the economy is

still shrinking, but not as fast as was feared. Stock markets have recovered many of the losses they sustained in March. With shrewd stewardship, the Chancellor may yet avert a long-term

slump. Rishi Sunak has so far avoided collateral damage from the Cummings affair. Now is the moment for him to repay his debt to the Prime Minister, who already singled him out for stardom

during the general election campaign. An active role for “Dishy Rishi” will be crucial to the relaunch that has now become necessary. That relaunch should focus on “unleashing” the potential

of the British economy, of which we heard so much before the Covid crisis, but precious little since it broke. The survival of this Government is now at stake. The Prime Minister must

instill a new sense of direction, of steady leadership and quiet confidence. The Cabinet, the Government machine, the parliamentary party and the constituency members must all hang together.

Otherwise they will assuredly hang separately.