Mr Johnson's carefully cultivated persona before he entered Downing Street was of someone who wanted to push the boundaries, who didn't pretend he was free of flaws. Some of his allies are confident that less-than-perfect behaviour is therefore priced in. The gradual unlocking of the country, and the success of the vaccine programme, are more relevant than all of this.
But the idea that the Tory party just forget it all? Briefings against Mr Cummings, perhaps even carried out by the prime minister himself, have turned the key that opened a Pandora's Box. And whatever the specific details of each allegation, the question that truly matters in the end is how the prime minister is operating in office.