EVERY summer at Westminster a very British coup used to occur. The place emptied of MPs, the media and Lords, and for a few weeks the workers took over. A normally hidden army of researchers, secretaries, maintenance crews, and clerks had the place to themselves, and could do all sorts of crazy things, like taking proper lunch breaks.

This year it is different. Covid and the rules on social distancing have meant the place has felt “closed for the summer” all year round. The last Prime Minister’s Questions, with Boris Johnson beamed in from isolation at Chequers, was a fittingly bizarre end to one of the strangest sessions in memory.

Mr Johnson is officially out of isolation and back in circulation on Tuesday. His scheduled task is launching a “beating crime plan” for England. In reality it will be trying to steady nerves among his Cabinet, MPs and the public. Labour have already dubbed the season “a summer of chaos”.

Downing Street had been looking forward to an easier time for the PM after so-called “Freedom Day”, but it has not worked out that way. A last minute change on travel rules to France, his new Health Secretary Sajid Javid testing positive for Covid-19, and the pingdemic causing widespread disruption, have combined to dent his standing in the polls.

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In a survey by Opinium published at the weekend, support for the Conservatives was holding steady at 43%, but the Prime Minister’s approval rating had fallen from minus 8 two weeks ago to minus 13. On the UK Government’s handling of the Covid crisis, 32% approved (down six points) and 48% disapproved (up four).

Adam Drummond, head of polling for Opinium, says: “The vaccine bounce that had been giving Johnson such good polling numbers in recent months is now over. He has seen a significant drop in his approval ratings, with more people now seeing him as weak, and fewer people seeing him as able to take the big decisions than at any other point since we started tracking.”

Working in Mr Johnson’s favour is Keir Starmer’s continuing inability to make an impression on voters. The Labour leader has moved from being initially supportive of the Government on the pandemic to mildly critical, suggesting changes here and there but no fundamental shifts. While nobody ever thought being the opposition in a pandemic would be easy, Sir Keir is making it look particularly hard.

Still on the “plus” side for Mr Johnson, the weather has worked to his advantage. The many families on staycations would have been more critical of the travel disruption had they spent the past week sheltering from the rain.

After the weather and Starmer, the Prime Minister’s fortunes take a downturn. In particular, younger adults are not coming forward to be vaccinated in the numbers needed. One way to boost uptake in general would be vaccine passports, but this would put the previously libertarian Prime Minister on a collision course with his own party. Some MPs, hearing a vaccine passport would be required for the party conference in Manchester, have already threatened a boycott. It is only a handful for now, but added to complaints from the hospitality sector and Labour, it hardly amounts to a warm welcome for the scheme.

Adding to the Prime Minister’s woes last week was another verbal pummelling from his former aide, Dominic Cummings. Critics of Cummings accuse him of being hell bent on revenge and running out of new things to say. The public will soon tire of him, assuming they are not bored already, say Mr Johnson’s supporters. That may be the case, but the trouble is that Cummings’ assessment of the PM – that he is not a man for detail, presides over chaos and is generally not up to the job – chimes with a growing number of people.

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Doubts that have been submerged are resurfacing. Patience is running low. Voters previously content to grant the Government some leeway are no longer prepared to be so accommodating. Why, they wonder, was there no plan to deal with the surge in the number of people who would have to self-isolate after restrictions were eased?

Mr Johnson and his Government have a broader problem in that they are losing touch with public feeling. They cannot do right for doing wrong. It has been a failing from the start – see Barnard Castle for its most obvious expression – but it is happening more often, and causing greater anger.

This time last week, for example, Mr Johnson and his Chancellor were performing a U-turn on their own self-isolation. Downing Street had failed to read the public mood correctly. It could not see that this was just another example of “one rule for them, another for the rest of us”.

Not sacking Matt Hancock was another glaring error on the Prime Minister’s part. Now his successor as Health Secretary has caused widespread offence, first by saying his symptoms had been very mild, then by telling people “we have to learn to live with, rather than cower from, this virus”. He did apologise, albeit it took a day.

Mr Johnson’s leadership, though only two years old, is looking tired indeed. In normal times, the Prime Minister would be looking forward to getting away on holiday himself. Now even his choice of destination could be a gaffe waiting to happen.