At the height of his power in early 2020, Boris Johnson was asked to compile a list of the five women who had most influenced his life. One he noted was Munira Mirza, director of his No. 10 policy unit, who had served as deputy mayor for culture during his time as mayor of London. For anyone who knew ¡°Planet Boris¡± from its origins, Mirza was the guiding intellect of the Johnson project: a savvy, quiet figure using the role of London figurehead to launch his bid for leadership of the Conservative party ¡ª and ultimately, his power grab as prime minister.

After a brief stint in the arts sector, Mirza returned to the political front lines at No. 10, delivering the government¡¯s agenda, but also shaping it as a northern meritocrat distanced from Johnson¡¯s coterie of elite friends. She was, the prime minister said, the ¡°most powerful nonsense detector¡± he knew.

Now she has resigned after objecting to her boss¡¯s recent claim that Keir Starmer, the Labour opposition leader, was responsible in his former role as director of public prosecutions for allowing serial sex abuser and pedophile Jimmy Savile to go free of criminal charges. Johnson has ¡°clarified¡± his words but offered no formal apology.

Out went communications chief Jack Doyle on Thursday, too, although he claimed that the pressures of the job on his family were the cause. (Doyle was also in the spotlight for attending illicit Downing Street parties during lockdown.) Dan Rosenfield, head of the prime minister¡¯s staff operation, and Martin Reynolds, his principal private secretary who presided over this mess, are also departing.

The court is collapsing, leaving a leader friendless and at bay.

A few hours after the resignations, Johnson¡¯s chancellor, most popular minister and hotly tipped successor, Rishi Sunak, publicly rebuked his boss in a news conference when asked about the accusation against Starmer: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have said that.¡± Sunak has already been lukewarm in defending the prime minister. The two most important members of the government are now circling each other in a dance of death.

When in a hole, Boris Johnson can¡¯t stop digging. The prime minister made his spurious charge against Labour¡¯s leader while defending himself in the House of Commons from responsibility for parties held at No. 10 during lockdown. True, Starmer had been in charge of Crown prosecutions, but in fact he had no sight of Savile¡¯s case, a disc jockey and sexual predator who once beguiled the political establishment.

Mirza was not alone in her dismay ¡ª the prime minister¡¯s slur prompted more Conservative MPs to call for a vote of confidence in their leader ¡ª but the departure of one of his closest...