Wakefield by-election lastest cliffhanger in the Boris Johnson show - Bill Carmichael

At the beginning of the following episode our hero would in a single bound be free, thanks to some impossibly improbable set of circumstances that even at the age of five had me shaking my head in disbelief.

Viewing that show is a bit like watching the political career of our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and this week I’ve been shaking my head even more emphatically than my five-year-old self.

“Surely, he’s a goner this time,” we say to ourselves, “he can’t possibly survive this one.”

But every time the butcher sharpens his knife, the greased piglet lets out a squeal and with a determined wriggle somehow slips away to safety.

This week for example Johnson suffered the humiliation of 148 – more than 40 per cent – of his parliamentary colleagues voting against him in a confidence motion. Although he won the vote, it represented a rebellion far larger than even his fiercest critics expected.

Party mutinies on this scale have in the past either badly damaged or ended the careers of Conservative leaders such as Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa May.

But like that hero in the old television series, Johnson just dusts himself down and presses on to his next adventure, seemingly none the worse for wear.

It has been like that throughout his entire life. Scandals that would end anybody else’s career just bounce off him without leaving a mark.

For example in the 1980s, after securing a job on The Times newspaper through family connections, he was sacked for making up a quote from a well-known historian (who just happened to be his godfather!) A few years later he agreed to give personal information about a journalist investigating insurance fraud to a former Eton pal who wanted him beaten up.

In 2004 he was again sacked, this time as Shadow Arts minister, by Conservative leader Michael Howard, after he was caught lying about having an affair with a magazine columnist.

In more recent times he has survived allegations of an affair with former model Jennifer Arcuri when he was Mayor of London, serious questions about who paid for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat and, of course, the whole sorry and shameful ‘partygate’ saga.

We don’t even know for sure how many children he has fathered – seven is the most reliable estimate – although he has been married three times, with numerous affairs in between and during.

Nothing seems to hinder his rise to the top, and he is nothing if not resilient.

The Prime Minister’s allies would argue he has got the big calls right and they have a point.

After years of political stalemate, during which the losers of the 2016 referendum attempted to overturn our democracy, he finally got Brexit done in 2020.

He was instrumental in getting the Covid vaccine rolled out far more quickly than anywhere else in Europe, and he got the important calls on lockdown entirely right (while Labour was entirely wrong).

Johnson has for some years been a consistent critic of Russian aggression and in Ukraine he is regarded as a hero for his steadfast military and diplomatic support for that country’s independence – in sharp contrast to the utter spinelessness of many of our European allies.

But although he has survived this week’s events, Johnson has a long walk before he emerges from the woods.

Later this month he is facing two by-elections that the Conservatives look highly likely to lose, including one in Wakefield. And the Commons Privileges Committee is still investigating if he lied to Parliament over Downing Street parties. Add to all of that petrol hitting £2 per litre, soaring inflation, electricity and gas prices going through the roof, stagnating growth and record levels of taxation and it is clear that troubles are piling up for the Prime Minister.

But one thing we’ve learned from Johnson’s career is not to write him off too quickly. The general election could still be almost two years away and a lot can happen in that time.

So, like the hero of that old television show, will Johnson face down the dangers and, impossible as it may seem, with one bound lead us all to safety?

It’s a cliffhanger and I can’t wait for the next episode to see how it turns out.