Populism is a real false friend, isn't it?
The Conservatives got themselves a populist Prime Minister.
And what a win it looked at the outset.
All the false chumminess, the jokey 'I'm not serious', the playing up of the whole 'Toff who behaves with iirreverance' stuff.
It looked bullet-proof.
On the one hand - he could play that whole 'anti-elitism' thing; on the other - when the facade fell down, it didn't seem to matter because it was all 'jokes', and calling him out on it just seemed as though you were drawing attention to the fact it was all a pretence - and everyone knew it was a pretence.
But, now that hard times really are kicking in - job losses, business losses, and rising prices are hitting home - well, now the joke isn't just wearing thin; it's just not working.
It's a bad, bad look for the PM to be perpetually on holiday. On expensive holidays, gifted to him.
It really is us/them stuff.
Across the U.K., business owners are looking at their balance-sheets and are worrying.
People are struggling through a chaos of managing during a pandemic.
Costs are rising.
There is uncertainty and discomfort.
And the lazy, venal fool we have as a PM - along with his lazy, venal brand of populism - just isn't popular.
And the Conservatives are stuck with him: a rotting carcass of populism that they nailed as a figurehead of their ship.
So, yes, the perpetual bloody holidays thing grates.