Back in July it wasn’t inconceivable that Johnson would be merely an entertaining blip in the country’s political history, put in charge of a conflicted party tanking in polls, attempting to do the impossible of taking Britain out of the EU by the end of October – while that process has already decapitated his predecessor. Give him a few months and he’s gone.

And yet, here we are in December 2019 and not only is Boris still in office, he has just assured Brexit is finally going to happen by the end of January and won himself five years in office with a strong Conservative majority, the largest any party has secured since Tony Blair – and the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher.

And it’s comparisons to the Iron Lady that can now be drawn, as Johnson appears to be exhibiting many of her trademark features. He’s uncompromising and pursues his goals by all means possible. Where ordinary bureaucrats would have retreated, he kept pushing ahead – even suspending the parliament, with the aid of the Queen he dragged into it.

One of the many trademark phrases of Thatcher’s era was “the lady is not for turning” – stated in 1980 when she already faced opposition to further liberalization of the British economy even within her own party. Many others would have balked but she wasn’t the person making any U-turns once she made her goals clear.

And now, 40 years later Boris Johnson wasn’t going to make any U-turns either.

Even when he was compelled by the parliament to ask for an extension (what could reasonably be argued as a violation of the tripartite, since legislative branch forced the executive to do something that was entirely within its prerogative to decide on) he did all he could, including sending two letters, asking – in the one that he did sign – for no further extensions.

Of course it served his political purposes, as he promised to take Britain out of the union by end of October but was stymied in his actions – yet still could be considered a failure by the voters. So it was necessary for him to demonstrate his conviction. That said, it was also a risky bet because it could have made him look desperate or even unhinged, trying all possible measures to achieve something in the face of opposition on all sides.