As I watched Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, it brought back memories of the last days of Margaret Thatcher, when her own MPs, not the nation, called time on her. 

Of course, there were reasons: she had been leader of the Conservative Party for 16 years and prime minister for 11. 

She was visibly tiring, so it was probably time to go. But the very manner of her dismissal left a dreadful mark upon the party for many years.

Is history going to repeat itself and will the Tories dismiss Boris out of hand, destroying all that we achieved through the most difficult peacetime years for a century? 

Before MPs all get carried away in a fit of moral indignation, just consider what he has done, both the good and the bad.

Without Boris, we would be stuck in the regulatory morass that is the EU. It was Boris alone who could run a brilliant campaign that not only gave us the biggest majority since Thatcher’s last election, but also won seats that had never been ours in living memory. 

No other candidate could have rallied the party in that way. It was hardly a just reward for achieving a stunning victory that within weeks he saw the arrival of a pandemic.

Boris has fought to keep the economy afloat …

Even then, learning the hard way, this Government got us through as well as most big nations and today we stand with a strong economy, with unemployment – particularly among the youth – at record lows and the economy back to pre-Covid-19 days.

The one thing that Boris can plead guilty to is fighting to keep the economy afloat, often in the teeth of difficult advice from the modellers in Sage. 

Happily, none of their worst forecasts came anywhere near true, but if he had followed some of their advice the economy would today be in great difficulty.

To make it an even harder decision, we are at possibly the most difficult geopolitical moment in Europe for decades. 

Whatever happens, and depending on how things play out in Ukraine, this could be the most dangerous moment for the West since the Bay of Pigs. 

I lived through the Cold War years and there were times when calm nerves and determination were the order of the day.

Couple this with the Government borrowing at levels we have rarely seen in peacetime and the last thing we can afford is to have an unstable administration at a time when there could be great financial turmoil.

Boris has made some serious mistakes and acted with a lack of discipline that would have been unimaginable during my time in government in the 1980s – and even during my time in No  10 with the coalition. 

There is no doubt that No  10 will need a shakeup, and probably a change of Civil Service leadership to restore a sense of discipline.

… but he has also caused great heartache among many

At a time of great individual and national mourning, Boris has acted in a thoughtless and unimaginative manner that has caused great heartache among many who have suffered great loss. There can be no excusing that, and he has apologised, though the jury is still out and we are waiting for Sue Gray’s report.

I was investigated by Ms Gray when I went to Downing Street in 2010 to see if I could work there (I passed) and was impressed by her thoroughness and believe she will call it as she finds it.

If Boris is found wanting then he must pay the price, but any such change should happen in an orderly manner. 

What is at stake is more than the reputation of one politician, but the future of the Conservative Party itself. 

But should he be cleared, then the sooner we return to dealing with the mounting problems facing the Government, both international and domestic, the better.

Lord Young of Graffham was a Conservative Cabinet minister from 1984 to 1989.