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Johnson is evidently ticking the dealer in hope bit. But he is going to need one hell of a Downing Street operation around him not to get consumed in weeks. With the greatest respect, D St is not City Hall. The complexity and volume of decisions will be like nothing seen before.
The United Kingdom's system of Government works on written fiat - boxes done overnight and officials given their marching orders from the boss. Unless you are consistent, thoughtful and timely in your instructions, the system will grind to a halt (2/8)
It's possible to delegate it out and take more of a Chairman role - Number 10 will always flex to the personality of the principal. But you're going to need some form of elected representative as a Chief of Staff to do the paper on your behalf and have the legitimacy to do so 3
And under the CoS you're going to need a fearsome unit- not just comms people - with clearly defined responsibilities and authority to communicate the will of the boss. To do that, you need to know the will of the boss and be sure your knees won't be cut off (4/8)
So in turn Johnson's operation will have to be robust with him - and not simply preen to the latest amusing thing he says in the 0830. And it will have to do all that without a majority in Parliament, a party divided and a sceptical civil service (5/8)
Johnson often compared to the great dealer of hope Ronald Reagan. But Reagan had Baker, Messe and Darman to help him. And Reagan also fudged a lot of stuff which is impossible to do when you're dealing with a legal process in Brexit (6/8)
And to those who say that Trump just about gets away with it. Trump has the separation of powers and is not first among equals in a parliamentary system. The executive in the UK cannot do anything without a robust political operation that can massage the legislative (7/8)
It's not impossible and critics of Johnson in the Tory Party shouldn't will him to fail - because the alternative is probably Jeremy Corbyn. But he's going to need one hell of a setup to even begin to get it right. I repeat - City Hall is not Number 10 (8/8)
Post-script on this. Some have made the legitimate point that No.10 could delegate more to individual departments to protect Johnson. Up to a point yes - and I would certainly have supported more diffusion when I was doing the job. But only up to a point...9
On Brexit, the Prime Minister is going to have to set the lead on policy - and ensure driven through a fractious Whitehall system. And there are any number of cross cutting departmental issues where Cabinet ministers will be at odds - plus MPs with strong and differing views 10
The PM - or proxies of the PM who accurately know his mind - will have to referee. Examples include net zero on emissions by 2050, future of Universal Credit and the benefits system, public service modernisation, balance of consumer rights Vs industry investment in utilities 11
And then of course if we do Brexit there's trade policy and the layers of political and policy choices on the future shape of the economy that we haven't even scratched the surface on 12
Good civil servants will be invaluable for all of the above in No 10. But they will rightly expect political direction - otherwise nothing will happen. They won't take the risk of second guessing an unpredictable beast who may not have their back down the line 13
Remember therefore that the exercise of power is about a lot more than your Comms profile and uplifting speeches. You campaign in poetry but you govern in chunky and substantial prose 14 ends
