So, in the end, it turned out to be Boris Johnson and not his detractors who got the final laugh.
When he left City Hall in May, many of those who’ve never reconciled themselves to his defeat of Ken Livingstone told themselves that they’d soon see him humiliated by his decision to campaign for Brexit.
When Leave secured its narrow victory it was clear that the presence of Britain’s most popular politician had tipped the balance in favour of quitting the EU.
Voters who were uncomfortable with siding with Farage and unsure about the largely anonymous Leave head honchos found themselves reassured and won over by the former Mayor.
There can be no doubt that had Boris campaigned to Remain, as many say he almost did, we would now be signed up to continued EU membership.
And so there was no surprise that Boris become the focal point for a lot of the angry, anti-Leave sentiment which erupted in the days following the result.
That anger soon turned into glee when his hopes of replacing David Cameron were ended by Michael Gove’s brutal backstabbing. Here, at last, was the comeuppance which Boris’s detractors and critics had longed for.
And yet, scarcely a week later, Boris Johnson is now one of the most senior members of Theresa May’s cabinet, freshly installed as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
In this role, Boris becomes responsible for selling Britain to the world – a scaling up of the task he performed for Londoners and building on his experience of leading trade and promotional missions.
He’s also and here I’m happy to confess to some doubts, responsible for overseeing MI6.
Out on Twitter quotes from ancient articles are being recycled as evidence of Boris’s supposed unsuitability for his new role but those same quotes failed to keep London Labour in 2008 and they won’t dislodge him from his new berth.
Anything the social media mob can find, Theresa May will already have seen. And the fact that some in Washington might not be happy will, ultimately, prove irrelevant.
Boris will, if he manages to reign-in some of his excesses, spend many years exciting and wowing crowds far from the London streets where he made the transition from game show panelist to credible leader.
Consummate entertainer that he is, he’ll enjoy every minute of his new, global stage and the opportunities it brings.
And his Commons appearances will given him a chance to dispel the falsehood – perpetuated in part by his own actions and sometimes ill-considered utterances – that he lacks intelligence and depth.
By now you’ll have guessed that I’m pleased for Boris that his ambitions to move from City Hall to national government have been realised, but I’m also optimistic for what his appointment means for Britain.
As we decouple from the EU we need a salesman to travel the world, whipping up interest from potential tourists, investors and businesses.
Boris, for all his faults, is by far the best candidate for the job.
