There has rarely been a more bizarre day in British politics.

A mass exodus from Government ranks. Ministers and aides quitting almost by the minute. A delegation of Cabinet ministers, striding through the doors of Number 10, urging the Prime Minister to go - including newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who only this morning was proclaiming his support for Mr Johnson.

All the while the Prime Minister himself appeared to be living some kind of alternative reality as he told MPs he was having a terrific week and was staying put.