Two years ago Boris Johnson was a dominating presence on the world stage, hosting some of the most powerful leaders at a G7 summit in Cornwall.
Today his future in British politics lies at the mercy of seven lesser-known politicians, whose judgements could end the once-dominant force of the Conservative Party.
It may be just as well that Mr Johnson, 58, has earned £4.8 million ($5.9 million) since resigning as prime minister in July last year, as the make-up of the MPs interrogating him on the Privileges Committee means he is unlikely to be given much sympathy.
While the committee includes one member to whom he is distantly related and old Brexit comrades, such have his political fortunes turned that there is a real danger the committee will unanimously vote for a 10-day or more suspension for misleading parliament over the partygate affair.
That would almost certainly trigger a by-election in which Mr Johnson could lose his seat as an MP and an important base for any political resurrection.
In the hearing, which is the closest British equivalent to a US impeachment trial, the committee's seven members will determine the fate of the UK's most charismatic politician in a generation.
Harriet Harman, Labour
MPs from all parties listened intently when the Privileges Committee’s chairwoman Harriet Harman was among the first to pay tribute in the House of Commons to the late Queen Elizabeth II last year.
Her successful 41-year political career has earned cross-party respect. She served in five ministerial posts, including cabinet posts, and was twice acting Labour party leader.
Mr Johnson would do well not to antagonise the Mother of the House, the longest-serving female MP, but he will also hope that a distant family alignment and their previous good relations might play in his favour.
Ms Harman’s cousin, Lady Rachel Billington, is Mr Johnson’s godmother. Also, when Ms Harman’s husband Jack Dromey, a fellow Labour MP, died unexpectedly in January last year, it was the former prime minister who graciously led the tributes.
Ms Harman’s wiliness as a politician has been reinforced by her years as a fearless civil liberties lawyer, and she was Britain’s solicitor general from 2001 to 2005.
Charles Walker, Conservative
Regarded by Lobby journalists as among the most decent and honourable Conservative politicians, Charles Walker is expected to robustly maintain his impartiality.
Despite being from the same party, Mr Johnson cannot expect soft questioning from the MP whose outburst labelling Liz Truss’ effervescent administration “a shambles and a disgrace” was regarded as a damning and terminal condemnation.
More importantly for Mr. Johnson, the MP was vehemently against the government's continued pandemic lockdowns, describing them as an egregious attack on civil liberties. This position is unlikely to endear him to Mr Johnson, who implemented the rules and then was accused of breaking them.
Like Ms Harman, Mr Walker, 55, will also be leaving parliament at the next election, possibly giving him more freedom to speak his mind.
He was also among the first Tories to condemn Mr Johnson in the early days of the partygate scandal, suggesting that he could “start the process of healing” by quitting as prime minister.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, Conservative
A strong-willed and stubborn Brexit supporter, Mr Johnson may regard Bernard Jenkin as a natural ally.
But during his chairmanship of the powerful liaison committee that grills serving prime ministers, Mr Jenkin has shown himself to be not entirely sympathetic to Mr Johnson, while content to give him a fair hearing.
However, that equitable approach may have been damaged after he alleged last year that Mr Johnson’s allies had conducted a “terrorist campaign” against the Privileges Committee by attempting to “discredit” it.
Mr Jenkin, 63, is also a long-serving MP after three decades in the Common and another whose political career is in its autumnal years.
Mr Johnson can also expect few favours from the remaining four members of the committee.
While Alberto Costa is a fellow Tory, he was strongly against Brexit and later campaigned for the protection of EU citizens’ rights. As a trained solicitor and former government lawyer in the UK Treasury he will be posing some sharp questions.
Just four years into his parliamentary career, Andy Carter, a “red wall” Conservative, is regarded as independent-minded, and has stated that he treats those before the committee “the same, regardless of their position or party.”
The remaining two MPs are Labour’s Yvonne Fovargue, who is no friend of Mr Johnson, and the Scottish National Party’s Allan Dorans, who will probably bring his forensic experience as a former detective in the Metropolitan Police into play.
Mr Johnson can therefore expect little favouritism to be shown during his four-hour interrogation, with the beaches of Cornwall and fine dining with US President Joe Biden only details in his memoirs.
Boris Johnson's time as British Prime Minister — in pictures
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Boris Johnson became UK prime minister in July 2019, left, and resigned three years later in July 2022, right. Here 'The National' looks back at his colourful time as leader of the country. Getty Images / Reuters -
Boris Johnson reads a statement outside 10 Downing Street, formally resigning as Conservative Party leader. PA -
Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson attend the National Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth at St Paul's Cathedral in June 2022. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson addresses the media after surviving a confidence vote in his leadership, in June 2022. PA -
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, announcing that Mr Johnson had survived a confidence vote in his leadership at the Houses of Parliament in June. PA -
Mr Johnson chats with residents in a Diamond Jubilee-themed room as he makes a constituency visit to Sweetcroft care home in Uxbridge, in May 2022. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson reads the findings of the Sue Gray report into gatherings on government premises while Covid-19 restrictions were in place, in his office in No 10, Downing Street in May 2022. Photo: Downing Street -
An image of a gathering in the Cabinet Room in No 10, Downing Street in June 2020 on the prime minister's birthday was released alongside the Sue Gray report. Photo: Cabinet Office -
Boris Johnson with a Mark 3 shoulder launch missile system at Thales weapons manufacturer during a visit to Northern Ireland for talks, in May 2022 in Belfast. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson having a turban placed on his head at Gujarat Bio Technology University, during his two-day trip to India in April. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson after apologising to MPs for the 'partygate' fine he had received, in the House of Commons in April. AFP -
Mr Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walking in central Kyiv, in April. AFP -
Mr Johnson arrives for a media interview at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, in March 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson speaks with officers as he makes a constituency visit to Uxbridge police station in December 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson observes an early morning Merseyside Police raid on a home in Liverpool as part of 'Operation Toxic' to infiltrate county lines drug dealings in December 2021. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson during a visit to Westport Care Home in Stepney Green, ahead of unveiling his long-awaited plan to fix the social care system, in September 2021. Getty Images -
Prince Charles looks on as Boris Johnson attempts to open his umbrella at the National Memorial Arboretum in Stafford, in July 2021. Getty Images -
President of the European Council Charles Michel, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Mr Johnson and Italian PM Mario Draghi pose for the leaders' official photo during the G7 summit in Cornwall, in June 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson poses with his wife Carrie in the garden of No 10, Downing Street following their wedding at Westminster Cathedral, in May 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson visits Hartlepool after the Conservative Party candidate Jill Mortimer won the Hartlepool by-election in May 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson receives his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, in March 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson smiles during a televised press conference at No 10, Downing Street in February 2021, as he announces a phased exit from the country's lockdown measures. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson gives a thumbs-up gesture after signing the Brexit trade deal with the EU in No 10, Downing Street, in December 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet for a dinner to try to reach a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal, in December 2020 in Brussels. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with a vial of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt's pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, in November 2020, in Wrexham, Wales. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson drills during his visit to Exeter College in September 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson holds crabs caught on the Carvela at Stromness Harbour in July 2020, during a visit to Scotland. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson holds a painting of a ladybird during a visit to The Discovery School in West Malling, in July 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds applaud for key workers outside No 10, Downing Street, in May 2020. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson appears on monitors for a meeting in London. The prime minister chaired the morning update meeting remotely as he was self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19. Reuters -
Boris Johnson makes a televised address to the nation from inside No 10, Downing Street, with the latest instructions to stay at home to help contain the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020. AFP -
Mr Johnson attends the launch of the UK-hosted COP26 Summit at the Science Museum in London, in February 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson is greeted by staff at No 10, Downing Street, after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government in December 2019. PA -
Mr Johnson and his partner Carrie enter Downing Street as the Conservatives celebrate a sweeping election victory in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson drives a digger with the words 'Get Brexit Done' inside the digger bucket through a fake wall emblazoned with the word 'GRIDLOCK', during a general election campaign event in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson eats pie on the campaign bus in Derby, on the final day of campaigning before the general election in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson takes a turn in goal during the warm up before a girls' football match between Hazel Grove United JFC and Poynton Juniors in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson poses with workers as he is given a tour of Wilton Engineering Services as part of an election campaign trail stop in November 2019, in Middlesbrough. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson poses for a photo wearing boxing gloves during a stop on his general election campaign trail in Manchester, in November 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson eats a rock sweet which reads 'Back Boris' during a general election campaign trail stop in Blackpool, in November 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson leads a bull around a pen as he visits Darnford Farm near Aberdeen, Scotland, in September 2019. Getty Images -
Former US president Donald Trump and Mr Johnson arrive for a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in August 2019, in Biarritz, France. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth welcomes Mr Johnson as the newly elected leader of the Conservative party and invites him to become prime minister and form a new government, at Buckingham Palace in July 2019. Getty Images
