Six months ago, we made a several predictions about the Premiership of Boris Johnson. In May 2020, these predictions seem eerily prescient. In particular, we argued that the similarities between Boris and the seventeenth century English monarch Charles II are impossible to ignore. Like Charles II, Boris is facing a whole repertoire of unpredictable challenges including an international pandemic. As the Great Plague ravaged England in 1665, so the Corona Virus plague has ravaged the world in 2020. Moreover, Brexit is still not a reality.

Yet like Charles II, Johnson seems to be riding the wave tolerably well with a skilful blend of subterfuge, bluster and incisive action. Like Charles, he is a disinterested politician of great natural ability. After narrowly surviving his own near-fatal bout of Corona Virus, he has bounced back with fierce determination to stamp his authority on the political and social landscape. Extending the Lockdown is an unexpectedly draconian policy for our own Merry Monarch, yet one that is likely to succeed in the long term.