Rishi Sunak has been playing the long game. Keeping his head down – there can be an upside to one of your close family getting Covid – and offering the bare minimum of support to the prime minister to appear loyal. Just hoping it was only a matter of time before the Met got round to fingering The Suspect’s collar and the necessary 54 no confidence letters were submitted to the chair of the 1922 Committee.

Then and only then would he show his hand. It was with the greatest sadness and the utmost humility etc, etc that he was putting his name forward to become the new leader of the Tory party.

But on Thursday the chancellor was forced out of hiding to come to the Commons to give a statement on energy prices and the cost of living. It could have been a moment of some danger. An admission that people were getting worse off on his watch.

Only he just about managed to ignore all that. Rather he made it all about his own brilliance. Just imagine how much worse everything would be if it hadn’t been for him! Dishi Rishi is turning out to be almost as much the narcissist as Big Dog. Even if his narcissism is more manicured and curated. Either way, he should have no trouble settling down in No 10.

Sunak’s whole speech was a catalogue of reasons to be profoundly grateful for his existence. He claimed the UK was the fastest growing economy and there were more people in work than before the pandemic, before insisting that inflation running at 6% had nothing to do with him. Er … you’re the chancellor. He then went to say the energy price cap would be going up by £693 and that he would be offsetting that with a £200 loan, to be repaid over five years, and a £150 council tax rebate.

The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, pointed out some