Rishi Sunak is not the first leader to find his time in power defined by something he would not have planned when he first took office. The Prime Minister need only watch Boris Johnson at the Covid Inquiry this week for a reminder of that.
His predecessor-but-one entered No 10 promising to get Brexit done but continues to be deluged with questions about the pandemic.
The United Kingdom first agreed its migration partnership with Rwanda under Mr Johnson. Mr Sunak might not have been the scheme’s biggest champion from the off, but he has since taken up the cause with gusto.
Making Rwanda work was part of the Sunak pitch for the premiership, where he styled himself as an all-purpose troubleshooter. He must have hoped his time in office would allow him to methodically work his way through tasks like that, with enough time left over to woo tech bros like Elon Musk.
Instead, his leadership now looks set to be dominated by seemingly the trickiest of his five priorities: stopping the boats.
This is the unavoidable, given the immense public concern about illegal immigration.
That is why the Prime Minister pledged to do “whatever it takes” to make the chief deterrent work, namely the Rwanda scheme, after the Supreme Court derailed it.
However, his proposed solution has divided Tory colleagues – with Robert Jenrick’s resignation as immigration minister showing the strength of feeling in the party.
After losing one of his longstanding allies, Mr Sunak sought to double down with a press conference today.
What was striking was the Prime Minister’s thinly veiled rage.
He sold the Government’s emergency legislation with gusto, but bridled at repeated suggestions that it would not be enough.
Time after time, Mr Sunak sought to emphasise that his plan was the only one on the table.
This was not just a message to the sceptics in the Tory ranks before MPs vote on the Bill.
He repeatedly put the spotlight on the Opposition, talking up the question of “what are the Labour Party going to do?”
Mr Sunak’s insistence that there is no alternative suggests a quiet fear that the parliamentary numbers will not be on his side, whether it is because of Tories joining Mr Jenrick in trying to toughen the Bill up or Remoaners vying to throw it out.
If so, the quesiton naturally follows: what Mr Sunak is prepared to do to ensure his party backs his flagship legislation?
Would he kick out Tory MPs who fail to toe the line? The Prime Minister didn’t say so, but stressed the vote was about “confidence in Parliament to demonstrate that it gets the British people’s frustration”.
Such language is reminiscent of the rhetoric used by Mr Johnson in his initial frustrated attempt to drive Brexit through Parliament. It is what galvanised his eventual drive for a snap election to settle the issue.
It will do nothing to dispel the idea encouraged by some, like Suella Braverman, of calling another election to break the deadlock on Rwanda.
We will soon see how far Mr Sunak is willing to do in his brinkmanship.
But today, the Prime Minister showed his readiness to go down fighting to do what Mr Johnson could not: get Rwanda done.
