IF we go by reports from the United Kingdom, the days look numbered for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Having found himself in hot soup over the "partygate" scandal and its associated lies, allies are deserting and the opposition is turning the screw on him as the leader of the Conservative Party fights for his political life and his position as prime minister.
Johnson, a former London mayor, has in recent weeks faced cross-party calls to resign, including from the Scottish National Party, Labour Party and even Scottish Conservatives, over partygate, which saw multiple gatherings involving staff at his official residence during lockdown.
"Mr Johnson's real sin, in this telling, was pushing Britons to go without for the common good, all while his office held events that violated this spirit of shared sacrifice and, by risking viral spread, undermined its effect."
He acknowledged as much, telling Parliament earlier this month, "I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules", wrote Max Fisher in the New York Times.
Options for Johnson to remain in power continue to diminish as the hawks circle him to oust him.
His fate is likely to be decided by Sue Gray's highly anticipated report on the parties, which was supposed to come out this week, but is delayed as police are investigating the scandal.
"If the report is damning, it could be the death knell for Boris Johnson's premiership," said inews.co.uk.
The British prime minister holds the position by virtue of his or her ability to command the confidence of the Lower House of Parliament — the House of Commons — which in turn commands the confidence of the electorate, obtained through a general election.
Currently, the 650-strong House of Commons is made up of 359 members of parliament from the Conservative Party, which leads the government, and 199 MPs from the Labour Party, which leads the opposition bloc.
Other members of the opposition bench are the Scottish National Party (45 MPs), Liberal Democrats (13 MPs), Democratic Unionist Party (eight MPs), Plaid Cymru (three MPs), Social Democratic and Labour Party (two MPs), Alba Party (two MPs), Alliance Party (one MP), Green Party (one MP), independents (seven MPs) and Abstentionist-Sinn Féin (seven MPs). And two seats are vacant.
If a prime minister resigns mid-term and his or her party has a majority in the House of Commons, the party selects a new leader according to its rules, who is then invited by the monarch to become the new prime minister.
"However, if Johnson or any other PM was to resign during Parliament, the process is far longer and follows many more processes.
"Under conventions of the UK's unwritten constitution, Britain must have a prime minister at all times.
"Therefore, a standing prime minister departing automatically triggers a leadership contest but does not leave straight away.
"The appointment of a new party leader can take up to a month and includes arduous campaigning, jostling for position and various behind the scenes machinations," Wales Online reported.
Johnson's approval ratings has dropped to an all-time low, according to pollster YouGov.
The pollster said Johnson's net favourability rating now stood
at -42 and had fallen 11 points since mid-November, with 66 per cent of the public having an unfavourable opinion of him.
His approval rating in an Opinium poll in January was -24 per cent, an increase from -31 per cent before Christmas.
On Jan 15, Johnson's personal approval ratings were worse than the lowest figures for Theresa May.
Even if Johnson clings on, the controversy may have caused lasting damage to his popularity.
The opposition Labour Party now has its biggest lead over the ruling Conservatives since 2013.
If Johnson goes, he would be the third prime minister that the Conservatives have lost since David Cameron took a walk in 2016 and Theresa May quit in 2019, both brought down by Brexit.
Bookmakers are already taking bets on who will be the next British prime minister.
The writer is NST news editor