Don’t get me wrong, Boris Johnson is a likeable man and can be surprisingly kind and loyal. So when I voted “no confidence” in him this week it was not a personal issue.
I was convinced that his shortcomings in Downing Street were doing too much damage to the reputation and record of the Government, however many heartfelt apologies he offered.
I believed when I voted that change was necessary. But democracy is straightforward.
It takes a majority to win and the Prime Minister is still Prime Minister.
But he now knows the scale of the problem. I was one of 148 MPs. We wanted fundamental change. We still expect real change, at least in the policies that the Government makes and the effort in making sure they work.
If Boris Johnson can “level up” the Westcountry, for example, to improve life and services in our rural areas then he will have started to restore faith.
It is up to him to get it right, to adapt his ideas, to do more of what he is capable of doing best and far less of the sort of stuff that has left him with a tarnished image.
The PM is on probation. And he knows it