Loading We are yet to hear from Johnson on a) what his leaving terms are or b) how he’ll get a majority. The new Brexit deadline, 99 days from his ascension to the prime ministership, falls ominously on Halloween. What happens if the parliament still hasn’t found a majority for leaving terms by then? The monarch should dissolve this parliament so a a fresh election can produce a new one. This is the whole point of constitutional monarchy: a non-political umpire defuses a once-in-a-century impasse. The crown has exercised this reserve power in Britain (1911), NSW (1932) and Canberra (1975). Nothing more democratic than a fresh election. Wouldn’t a new parliament be similar to the impotent one it just replaced? No. This current parliament was elected in 2017. At that time, Brexit was far from voters' minds.

"Leave" had won the referendum a year earlier and it seemed a done deal. The Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) had led the agitation for a referendum since 1991 but won just 1.8 per cent of the vote in 2017. Its leader, Nigel Farage, had already retired assuming the battle was won. The press, public and political class seemed oblivious to the bog ahead. Loading A late 2019 general election would, like an Etch A Sketch, reset the political landscape. The traditional parties are racked by division. Both face existential challenges on their right flank – Farage’s comeback vehicle (the Brexit Party) is winning over Tory voters and the consistently pure Remainers (the Liberal Democrats) are winning over Labour’s middle-class supporters. Throw into the mix the larger-than-life but scandal-prone Johnson and an Opposition Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, more left-wing than our Greens. What amplifies the unpredictability is the "first past the post" voting system where a candidate with 25.1 per cent of the vote can be elected. The polling averages today are: Labour 23 per cent, Brexit Party 22 per cent, Tories 22 per cent, and Lib-Dems 19 per cent. A week ago, betting markets were paying $3 if the UK holds an election in 2019. Now it's $1.80. A post-election parliament would almost certainly bring Brexit to a head.

If a Remain coalition formed government, it would immediately hold a second referendum (it's now Labour policy). Remain only needs to lift its vote from 48.11% (its 2016 tally) to 50 per cent plus one vote, which it likely would if the voters had just elected a pro-Remain parliament. Brexit would be dead and the British bulldog’s absorption into the Brussels blob inexorable. Loading If a pro-Leave coalition formed government, the EU would likely soften its demands but regardless, Britain would be beyond Brexit-fatigue and promptly dump the EU in a hard Brexit – that is, no terms outside the World Trade Organisation. There would be a period of commercial disruption, but chief executives and entrepreneurs would study the new regulatory landscape and get on with business. The horror scenario is a new parliament still deadlocked but, surely after a royal intervention and an election, enough MPs would compromise. The first act of a new PM is to appoint a cabinet and Johnson shocked by brutally purging Remainers. Why be hostile to the very MPs he needs to win over for his yet-to-be presented leaving terms? Because a) they won’t budge and b) Johnson is more worried about the existential threat on his right-flank.

Like Cincinnatus in Rome, Farage retired from politics when he thought his work was done but has been compelled to return by the incompetence of the political class. When Farage left UKIP it was seemingly devoid of purpose and was promptly hijacked by the far right; so he announced earlier this year the formation of the Brexit Party, and already it's level-pegging with the Tories – Britain’s most successful political party. The one to watch ... Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party. Credit:Bloomberg Farage fought a lonely battle for decades to bring about and then win the referendum. He is a citizen politician. Johnson is a career politician who agonised over whether to be pro-Remain or pro-Leave. The working-class is generally pro-Leave but there are centuries of distrust that make voting Tory too hard. Millions could, however, be persuaded to desert Corbyn Labour for the Brexit Party.