Boris Johnson: Perhaps my campaign was ‘clunking’. But sometimes, clunking is what you need

You may wonder why I am up at 4.45 a.m. writing this diary when I have a country to run, Queen’s speech to prepare, vast mandate to deliver, and so on. The answer is simple. It is a question of obligation. When I bumped into the editor (at Sajid Javid’s 50th birthday party) a couple of nights ago, he explained — with a slightly glassy expression — that he had taken a gamble. He had already printed the cover of the Christmas treble issue, he said. I know all about the Xmas cover. It is lavish, laminated, and on much thicker stock than the normal cover. It costs a bomb. Once you have printed it, you can’t change it. ‘Your name is on it,’ said Fraser. What could I say? I became editor 20 years ago. I owe this magazine. If the editor is going to be so kind as to co-opt me as a contributor, my duty is to oblige.

Fraser has given me the chance to acknowledge some other massive debts. Let’s hear it first for the thousands of activists — of all parties — who have just allowed our democracy to function. No PM really wants an election; and I certainly didn’t want one in December. But we had no choice; and — thank heavens — the activists understood that. For the last six weeks they have traipsed good-humouredly through rain and wind. With freezing fingers they have rung bells and pushed bumf through the furry fringes of letter boxes — never knowing whether a dog’s jaws are on the other side. Many have put up with undeserved abuse. They have been egged, trolled, spat at, and screamed at. They have seen their expensive Corex boards repeatedly torn down and defaced.