Boris Johnson would have calculated a backlash over his decision to shut down Parliament for five weeks but it is a moot point as to whether he expected it to be quite so large.

This week’s skirmishes are likely to be a forerunner of wider public protests as MPs resume hostilities next week and opponents of a no-deal Brexit draw up battle plans to try to block the suspension of Parliament.

The PM has announced the government is to step up negotiations with Brussels to try and reach a new agreement - a move that could be seen as a belated gesture towards those unhappy that he has made little effort to do so until now.

His move to prorogue Parliament seemed at the start of the week to have caught his opponents off guard.

As the week ends, the strategy has not been holed below the water line but does not appear to be quite as politically deft.

The government faces various legal challenges; the party has lost in Ruth Davidson one of its best electoral assets; more than 1.3m people have signed a petition against suspension and we can expect large-scale protests from this weekend.

The question facing the PM’s opponents in Parliament is how best to exploit the vanishingly small period they now have to act. Outrage over alleged constitutional breaches won’t be enough. Can MPs engineer legislation that will get through Parliament in a matter of days?

And can what is a fairly broad political coalition even agree a legislative proposal?

Those Kent Conservative MPs who have put their head above the parapet have mainly swung behind the Prime Minister.

Boris Johnson knows that he has gambled. We will find out next week whether the cards he holds are enough to trump his political foes.

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