Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is "fighting for his political life", between "partygate" and the bursting of the 'Brexit bubble'.

That is according to Will Hutton, political economist and journalist, who says there's no coming back from this.

"Comebacks in politics are very rare and very rarely succeed", he told The Anton Savage Show.

"I think last week was a kind of big moment in British and, arguably, European politics."

A beleaguered Boris Johnson faced intense questioning from MPs this week over accusations he deliberately or recklessly misled parliament over what he knew about “partygate”, with some saying this is the end of his public life.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month negotiated the Windsor Framework, "squaring a circle in Northern Ireland".

"It was going to be the moment when Johnson and his people were going to lead a very sizable rebellion of Tory MPs", Mr Hutton explained.

"In fact, that didn't happen."

Only 22 MPs voted against the Northern Ireland deal, securing the government an "unbelievable" majority in support.

"It was a major major moment", Mr Hutton said.

'Grilling'

During Johnson's "grilling" by the Privileges Committee, seven politicians "really took him apart".

This was a turning point for him as "he's never had to justify" his "lies" in the past, according to Mr Hutton.

"The assurances that he had relied upon to say that he had not led the House of Commons in a reckless way had come not from the civil service or independent officials, but by his two media advisors, and even then he changed what they'd advise", he said.

"The bubble has gone out on the Brexit balloon. The bubble has gone out on Boris Johnson.

"He looks what he is - someone fighting for his political life from a very weak position."

Listen back to the full conversation here.

Main image shows Boris Johnson during a visit to Berlin, Germany in August 2019. Picture by: Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo