Given that Westminster has spent weeks debating the possibility of Boris Johnson proroguing parliament, it was surprising how surprised MPs were when he actually did it. Even his own cabinet ministers were rather taken aback, having returned to Whitehall on Tuesday expecting to spend the week in meetings with the Treasury about their spending review settlement. Now, they’re preparing for an election, which would be the result of a successful vote of no confidence in the government, forced through by MPs determined to thwart Johnson’s manoeuvring. Even if that scenario does not unfold, he is likely to call one immediately after Britain has left the EU on 31 October.
The MPs most unsettled by the announcement are the ones who have spent the summer plotting tactics to use against Johnson. These anti-no deal MPs, who exist more as a diaspora than a coherent group, love plotting among themselves, but have an amusing distaste for anyone who plots against them in return. As one Johnson ally puts it: “The anti-no deal alliance have been so used to setting the weather recently. Instead, they’ve had the weather reset, so it’s raining on their parade, and they don’t like it.”
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