Johnson is on the crest of a vaccine wave. Labour will just have to ride it out | Martin Kettle

Thanks to the rollout, the prime minister’s popularity is rising. It shows that right now, the normal rules of politics don’t apply

He made a great effort not to crow, but the Conservative minister could not contain his mix of pleasure and slight surprise this week. “If there is one thing that the Labour party absolutely does not want right now,” the minister told me, “it is a sudden and sustained display of competence on the part of this government. Yet that’s exactly what they’re now facing.”

The UK’s coronavirus vaccine rollout is the most significant achievement over which Boris Johnson has presided since the pandemic began. Ten million of us have now had our first jabs, 15% of the population and rising, way above the rate for most other European countries. It is a public health success story that looks set to continue well into the year. It is also an undeniable political boost for Johnson. Whether it is the proverbial gamechanger is harder to say.

Related: UK passes 10m Covid vaccination milestone

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...