The by-election losses the PM was reluctantly expecting, but Oliver Dowden's resignation he was not, finding out when he returned to his room in Kigali after his 6am morning swim (5am back in the UK) and checking his phone
But this is not just a crisis of leadership for the prime minister, it is potentially a wider crisis for the Conservative Party.
By-elections are of course very different beasts to general elections, but I make the point to illustrate why Mr Johnson's MPs will be feeling very anxious. Election guru Professor John Curtice put the results into context, pointing out that the recent by-election results - losing four out of five contests - were the party's"worst run of by-election results since the Tories first returned to power in 2010".
The entire party - cabinet ministers, MPs, members, staffers, volunteers - will be inevitability asking themselves whether Mr Johnson remains the right leader, whether these losses are a blip linked to economic circumstances or something more profound.And that brings us to the inevitable question, again, about his continued leadership of the country and the Conservative Party as prime minister.
But 4,000 miles away from Rwanda, a cabinet minister, a former Conservative leader Lord Howard and his MPs are again questioning his suitability for the role.
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