Sir Anthony Seldon spoke about Boris Johnson to a packed audience in the E M Forster Theatre on 30 September. His book Johnson at 10 will be published next April and he freely admitted that it was the first time he had given a talk about a book which had yet to be written. At the time of the talk the Truss premiership was still just on the rails, although Anthony predicted it would not last long. He spoke about Boris’s background and the famously prescient school report from his housemaster, Martin Hammond, to the effect that Boris did not see himself bound by the same obligations as the rest of us. He then examined all the debates around Johnson’s conduct over Brexit, his triumph in the 2019 election and all the subsequent shenanigans in Downing Street resulting in his eviction by his own MPs. After speaking revealingly and entertainingly off the cuff for about thirty minutes, he then took a range of questions from his audience, which did not seem to include many Johnson supporters. The book will continue Anthony’s tradition of writing about all the recent Prime Ministers, although he is now having to work extremely hard to catch up. Perhaps, when he takes over as President of the OTS next summer, he will be able to return to give us a job lot of at least the next two Prime Ministers after Boris.

David Walsh