Boris Johnson plays the McKinsey card

When arch toff Jacob Rees-Mogg blurted out that the British operate “in effect” a presidential system, the Queen was not the only UK citizen taken by surprise.

But in the wake of the Sue Gray report on Partygate, Boris Johnson is taking Rees-Mogg’s claim seriously. Accumulating more power centrally is the driving philosophy behind plans for a reorganisation of Downing Street, though it is also obvious the goal is saving his political skin.

The plan is to create a new permanent secretary at Downing Street, in theory to work alongside the Cabinet secretary and head of the Civil Service but in practice to babysit a notoriously ill-disciplined prime minister.

Several candidates for the new job have surfaced, notably Antonio Romero, the ambitious permanent secretary at the Justice Department and former New York consul general. She narrowly missed out on the Cabinet secretary job in September 2020 when Johnson chose the youthful Simon Case.

Another name is Sarah Healey, perm sec at the department of culture, media and sport, best known for her cack-handed admission during the Covid lockdown that she found working at home handy because she could spend time on her Peleton exercise bike.

Romero is now reported to find a move unappealing – either a sign she has no intention of joining a sinking ship or that she reckons she has another shot at the Cab Sec job. ( Case’s copybook was bloated by his attendance at a Downing Street “work event” which forced him to recuse himself from the PartyGate inquiry in favour of Sue Gray).

Healey, a smart ex Treasury official who featured in the Brexit negotiations, must be desperate to escape her “Culture Wars” secretary Nadine Dorries; but she may also be in the running to replace Case, should Johnson throw him overboard.

Johnson is currently signalling that he values loyalty and promises that the new structure will redress earlier weaknesses in the system. But in the last resort, Downing Street insiders say the PM has always resisted formal decision-making structures and prefers something akin to a mediaeval court.

For example, despite Ukraine presenting the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War, there is no sign of him using the national security council where the chief spooks (MI5, MI6 and GCHQ) gather alongside his national security adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove. David Cameron, by contrast, held a NSC meeting every week.

Sue Gray’s redacted report on Partygate contained blistering criticism of Downing Street’s disregard for the rules during Covid lockdown and the manifest lack of leadership. The full Monty, assuming it is published after the Met Police complete their own criminal inquiry, promises to be even more devastating.

Johnson’s fatal flaw has nothing to do with Othello or any other Shakespearian heroes which happen to cross his mind. He is simply unmanageable which means the new Downing Street org chart looks similar to an inverted pyramid of piffle.