Politics: Cameron’s season of sorrows is not over yet

The black dog has descended on Whitehall. Tory ministers are, as a group, at their lowest ebb since they entered government. When I saw one secretary of state this week, he stopped halfway through our meeting to say, ‘I’m sorry this is such a depressing conversation’. He then continued in the same vein. Even the normally Tiggerish Prime Minister is in a bit of an Eeyoreish mood. I’m told that he seems more tired and down than at any point since he took on the job.

This funk is a result of a difficult few weeks for the government. Granny tax was followed by pastygate, which compounded the damage done by the fuel panic, which set the government up for a fall over charity tax.To top it all, the Office for National Statistics declared this week that the country is back in the recession. The double dip that Ed Balls has so often predicted has happened. As Claudius said, ‘When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.’

As if this were not enough, the Tory side of the coalition is entering a period of Leveson purgatory. Already, five hours of testimony from James Murdoch have obliterated Jeremy Hunt’s career prospects. A man once tipped as a future Tory leader is now reduced to trying desperately to hang on to his current job.

Day after day, Cameron will be reminded of one of his biggest mistakes, his decision to get too close to the Murdochs and News International. His personal ratings, already at their lowest since he became leader, will take another hit.

There are a few bright spots on the horizon. Boris Johnson still looks likely to hold on in London and the local elections results will probably not be an unmitigated triumph for Ed Miliband, who faces tricky battles in Cardiff and Glasgow as well as the capital.