Humiliated, deflated, and entering unknown territory, British prime minister Boris Johnson has vowed to push ahead with Brexit, with any hope of an orderly exit now seemingly further away than ever.

Boris Johnson’s ascension to the job of British prime minister is the culmination of years of scheming and plotting.

The race to become the UK’s next prime minister is challenging our usual assumptions about what is important when people choose a leader. The rule book has been thrown out of the window.

The European elections in England were a triumph for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, which took 32% of the vote. There was real success for the Liberal Democrats and Greens as well, deep disappointment for Labour and the new Change UK party and disaster for the Conservatives.

As the date of Britain’s departure from the European Union draws near, you might be forgiven for thinking that the future of UK-EU relations after Brexit hangs on only one thing: resolving the question of what to do with the Irish border. Yet just over the horizon lies a much more serious threat, one that has the potential to cause far greater and more lasting damage.

One of the skills a politician needs to try to resolve a deadlock is the capacity to sow a seed that might blossom into something altogether unimaginable — at least for those sustaining the deadlock by red-line refusals to compromise.

The 2016 EU referendum resulted in a marginal victory for Brexit and a divided nation.