Boris Johnson might be able to ride out the current turmoil rocking No.10 after all, according to a Telegraph journalist.
The prime minister has endured yet another tough week, with many pundits speculating the end of his time in office is near after five of his senior aides quit.
Yet, columnist Tim Stanley thinks there’s still a chance he could hang on.
He told BBC Question Time on Thursday: “Boris Johnson is a phenomenon.
“I’m amongst a minority who rather likes him actually.
“He reminds me of a character in an Ocean’s Eleven film.
“Technically, he may well be a con man and he might be the bad guy, but you want to see him get away with it and how he did it.”
Ocean’s Eleven, a 2001 heist comedy film, follows con artists who was plan to steal millions from a casino owner.
Stanley continued: “The Conservative Party suspects that the reason it has its majority is Boris Johnson.
“He is the only man who could have got Brexit done, and won the red wall, and they’re worried that if they’re going to get rid of him, they’re going to get rid of the one thing that possibly makes the Conservatives competitive for the next election.
“So I think they move on Boris Johnson at their risk, and a part of me still thinks he might get away with it – he might pull off one more great con.”
Stanley’s comments chime in with the arguments put forward by Johnson’s allies who have tried to dissuade Tory backbenchers from ousting the PM.
They’ve claimed that if Johnson goes, a general election would need to be called and the government will lose its majority in parliament – suggesting none of his successors would be up for leading the party or the country.
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg recently claimed that the UK was “essentially a “presidency”, as it was more than leader of a party who mattered to voters.