Enda Brady: Boris Johnson faces his first serious electoral test since his reputation hit rock bottom

Ever since the "Partygate" scandal rocked Boris Johnson's premiership at the end of last year, the British Prime Minister has repeatedly dodged questions about his future by asserting that what the public wants is for politicians to get on with running the country, not obsess over events that took place nearly two years ago.
Later this week, Johnson will have some indication of whether or not that claim is right. On Thursday, people across England, Scotland and Wales will vote in local elections, the closest thing to a mid-term that Johnson has faced since taking office in 2019.
The vote takes place as Johnson and his governing Conservatives are surrounded by scandals and crises so bad that members of his own party have publicly called for his resignation. Indeed, the most pressing of these scandals, which saw Johnson fined by police for breaching his own Covid rules during the 2020 lockdown, might have led to his ousting from office under normal circumstances.
And yet, Johnson has time and again proved himself to be unique among politicians and able to roll with every punch thrown at him. What's unknown right now is if any of those punches, while failing to knock the PM out, have caused sufficient damage that Johnson is still ultimately doomed.
A short look at the wreckage currently surrounding Johnson would be enough to make most chuck the towel in.
The numerous incidents involved in the Partygate scandal, for which Johnson has already been found guilty of breaking the law, are still being investigated by the police. More fines have been issued to people who worked with the PM inside Downing Street and it's entirely possible that Johnson could be fined again.
Once the police have finished, Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, will publish her full report into the scandal, which is likely to be highly critical of Johnson, if the parts already published are anything to go by.
Also haunting Johnson is the prospect that he will be found to have deliberately misled parliament when, in response to allegations of lockdown-breaching gatherings in Downing Street, he told lawmakers that rules were followed at all times. According to the ministerial code, such an eventuality would normally lead to a resignation.
The sense of crisis surrounding Johnson's premiership goes well beyond Partygate.
Last week, his party was accused of having a serious misogyny problem, after one of his backbenchers anonymously claimed to the Mail on Sunday newspaper that Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, attempted to distract Johnson in the House of Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs, similar to Sharon Stone's character in the movie "Basic Instinct."
Rayner described the claims as "vile lies" and tweeted that "Boris Johnson's cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin." Johnson himself criticized the Mail's story as "appalling, misogynist tripe" and said he would unleash the "terrors of the earth" on the source if they were found.
And on Saturday, another lawmaker from Johnson's party, Neil Parish, said he would resign after admitting to watching pornography multiple times in the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, 56 members of parliament are currently under investigation for sexual misconduct, with members of Johnson's cabinet believed by government insiders to be on that list.
Add to all of this a cost-of-living crisis linked to Brexit and Johnson's fate going into these elections looks bleak. Inflation in the UK is at a 30-year high, and the Prime Minister's critics have accused him of having no serious answers to the crisis.
When asked in an interview Tuesday to give advice to an elderly widow whose energy bills had risen so much that she had been forced to ride the bus around all day to stay warm, Johnson began his response by taking credit for introducing free bus passes when he was the...

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