This week Private Eye released the latest in its long history of satirical magazines with the front cover showing Boris Johnson’s cabinet as a series of poodles.
The term “poodle” in Westminster refers less to those trotting round the dog show and more to someone who obediently follows orders.
It follows a Cabinet reshuffle, where Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, the chief advisor to the Prime Minister, seem to be centralising power in government to Number 10.
This has been felt across the government, from Cabinet ministers to special political advisors.