Almost exactly a year ago, outside the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster, the anti-Brexit activist Steve Bray pressed stop on his PA system for – thank God – the final time. No one would have to hear his Bay City Rollers pastiche, “Bye Bye Boris”, ever again.
The Tory leadership contest was over. Britain had a new prime minister, who would soon be on her way to Balmoral for her own little conference with the actual, real life, Queen Elizabeth II. It would be Her Majesty’s final such meeting. Her first was with Winston Churchill. Her last was with Liz Truss.
Later that day, Truss would find herself pointlessly driving in circles around central London, hoping for a break in the torrential rain so that she might give a short speech outside 10 Downing Street. The news channels carried rolling pictures of her lectern covered with a bin bag.
