NOW that the dust has settled on Boris Johnson’s Cabinet reshuffle and it has been roundly mocked from all sides as being the political equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, we have gleaned some new information about the method behind his madness.

And madness it is – because no serious prime minister would willingly choose Priti Patel as Home Secretary unless they had lost a bet.

According to yesterday’s Sunday Times, the Prime Minister sought to create a new Cabinet in his own, optimistic, image.

When asked by one aide what he was looking for in his top team, the Prime Minister replied: “That they share my boosterish vision for this country, that they believe we can deliver better for people, that they are positive about what we can achieve.”

“Boosterish”, it seems, is the new “Tiggerish”. These trite Westminster phrases are enough to make anybody feel a bit Eeyore-ish.

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So, no surprise, Boris Johnson wants happy-clappy ministers around the Cabinet table who will fulfil their briefs with a can-do attitude and a wide smile.

Being optimistic, in your thoughts and in your work, is generally a good thing. Committed pessimists can be draining to be around and if you are working towards a goal, the best starting point is to believe that what you are aiming for is achievable.

This extends to ministers too: having an energetic Cabinet fuelled by a healthy dose of self-belief can lead to better outcomes.

But I fear that that’s not what this reshuffle was really about.

Boris Johnson has wanted to become prime minister for as long as I have been alive.

That goal sustained him though his own career, marked as it was by scandal and set-backs. But he never lost that belief in himself, his own greatness and his almost divine-right to one day rule.

He is undoubtedly an optimistic person. He is also a demonstrably lazy person. Or at least, he is a lazy politician – which is much worse.

It’s just our dumb luck that the stars aligned in such a way that he finally achieved his goal of becoming prime minister right before the UK faced its worst crisis in living memory.

England, like Scotland, is still very much in the grip of the virus. The NHS is beginning to feel the pressure and as we head into winter that’s only going to get worse.

Last week, the Prime Minister set out his Plan A (and B) for winter, after U-turning on vaccine certification for nightclubs and large-scale events. We know his views on reimposing restrictions in England and that, if such a move should become necessary, he will struggle to take that tough call more than any of the leaders of the devolved governments will.

Optimism was laced through his approach to the pandemic.

He repeatedly over-promised and under-delivered. His proclamations that the pandemic would be over by Easter; by Christmas; by summer; in six weeks; probably soon, were shown to be false. Nobody forced him to give an end date, but the optimist in him just couldn’t resist.

And now, he faces a winter surge in cases and an NHS struggling to cope with demand.

On top of all that, he has the catastrophic consequences of Brexit to contend with.

Food supply issues, price rises and the economic fall-out from his government’s cruel decision to cut Universal Credit for those on the lowest incomes are all problems

that are heading towards a tipping point.

Boris Johnson might be feeling optimistic about “levelling-up”, whatever the hell that means, but blind faith and cheery slogans aren’t going to help him emerge from the next few months with any credibility.

Things have gotten so bad that Michael Gove has been drafted in to help save Christmas. The fear is that supply chain issues are going to mean a festive season marred by empty shelves and lumps of coal where there should be toys.

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In-between pulling off a Christmas miracle, Michael Gove has also been tasked with “saving” the Union. Why not go the whole hog and get him to single-handedly sort out the climate emergency while he’s at it?

Boris Johnson doesn’t want an energetic, optimistic Cabinet. He wants one where the harsh realities of what a mess he has made of everything aren’t mentioned. He doesn’t want to listen to the negative Nellies who might – God forbid – be honest with him about what’s to come.

He seems to truly believe that if he says “we’re building back better” enough times then that will make it so. The public aren’t stupid: they can see what lies beneath the shiny promises and performative self-belief. The Prime Minister is out of his depth and his new Cabinet of optimists serve only to help him remain in denial for a little while longer.

But meanwhile, out in the real world, pessimism about the UK’s immediate future seems more appropriate than optimism.