Boris Johnson PMQs: His trust with the public is lost – how can he carry on?

Boris is still, somehow, clinging on in there, despite mounting calls for him to resign amid allegations of numerous lockdown parties within Government.

At PMQs on Wednesday he admitted attending a gathering at 10 Downing Street at the height of the pandemic on May 20, 2020 to 'thank groups of staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later to continue working'.

He described the garden as 'an extension of the office' and apologised for his actions.

But still he refuses to go, claiming we should all wait for the result of an inquiry into the matter by civil servant Sue Gray.

The conclusion of the inquiry is pretty much irrelevant now - his trust with the public is surely lost.

How can he continue on believing that he has the confidence of the public given the growing evidence that he, and those within his department, failed to follow his own guidance?

I've actually interviewed Boris in the past, all be it very briefly.

He appeared unannounced at Fox Valley Retail Park in Stocksbridge in order to show his support for then Tory candidate Miriam Cates.

I asked him a fairly straight-forward question about Brexit and he quoted back to me song lyrics from The Doors song 'Break on Through to the Other Side' in reference to our departure from the European Union.

Making jokey, light-hearted references when faced with tough questions has been a common theme throughout his premiership - perhaps as a way of avoiding tackling the issue at hand.

We are all for banter but there is a time and a place.

The PM appeared to smirk on TV earlier this week when asked by an interviewer about the 'bring your own booze’ garden party.

The footage, and his latest performance in Parliament, will no doubt turn the stomach of all those people who have lost loved ones in this wretched pandemic.

It must be said that Labour leader Keir Starmer is not without criticism in all of this.

He finally stuck his neck out at PMQs and repeatedly asked the PM if he would resign.

It's taken him a while to get to this point.

Fair enough. the Labour leader has been self-isolating following a positive Covid test this week - but it is understood his symptoms have been mild.

A single tweet on Tuesday urging the PM to 'come clean' just doesn't cut it. If he was well enough, why was he not doing the rounds on TV (via video calls) urging the PM to quit - or at least calling him out on his actions?

On too many occasions he has not gone far enough in holding the Government to account - particularly in recent months when he has been presented with open goal after open goal.

Speaking to people in Sheffield you get a mixture of fury and apathy.

Some are angry over the apparent rule breaking of senior Government figures.

While others are simply fed up with the whole lot of them.

Perhaps there should be a snap general election and let the people decide.