Prime minister Johnson must have enjoyed his little Christmas and celebrated the new year. Hope inspired by the vaccines and his last minute triumph signing and sealing the Brexit trade agreement has probably given a new spring to his step.
He needed it, and deserves sympathy and support for having had to endure and try to solve a massive crisis like none of his predecessors over generations.
The question is, will he build on his success and become a bolder, more competent leader?
He has to if the barrage of criticism and opposition he has faced over many months are to die away.
He has compounded his problems by his choice of cabinet, most of them patently out of their depth.
He must realise this and reshuffle the pack, probably within a few weeks. There must be better quality members ready for the challenge.
Another, more important questions, is whether Mr Johnson has the will to battle on. Will the temptation to retire to a quieter, more relaxed, and remunerative lifestyle - perhaps back to his writing days that earned him a reputed £100,000 for a weekly column?
Few of Britain’s 76 former prime ministers have voluntarily stepped down, the more recent ones, Stanley Baldwin, three times PM, in 1937, Harold Wilson in 1976 and Theresa May in 2019.
Instead, he might be relishing the chance to make good his boasts and promises for the post Brexit era.
It would be a relief and pleasure to see the old affable, optimistic Boris building on his recent successes, and it might make 2021 a truly memorable happy, even glorious new year.
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