A little after 5pm on Thursday one of Boris Johnson’s closest allies stepped into the bar of the Amba hotel above Charing Cross station in central London. It was a grey day and the rain was coming down. The weather was reflective of his mood. “Have you heard about this dirty tricks campaign against Boris?” he asked a friend gloomily.

Five hours later, 300 yards away across Trafalgar Square, most of Theresa May’s Downing Street staff had gathered in the humid basement of The Admiralty tavern for a leaving do.

Aides stared at their phones as news broke that Johnson’s wife, the QC Marina Wheeler, had left him after he had admitted a new infidelity.

The Sun reported how Johnson’s daughter Lara had been overheard