In an office overlooking the green outside the House of Commons sits a vast whiteboard with names arranged in columns. By Thursday evening a small red dot was placed next to several in the top row. Those little stickers will shape more than 100 careers as well as the future of Britain.

It is in this room that for much of the past week Boris Johnson has reclined behind a desk, his most trusted aides squeezed onto a sofa, others standing, throwing out ideas, as the prime minister-in-waiting has drawn up his first cabinet. The red stickers are added only to the names of those who are “locked in” and guaranteed a job.

If, as expected, Johnson is crowned the victor in the Tory leadership