Theresa May’s party conference speech was marred by a prankster who somehow managed to get past security and delivered her a mock termination form:

A prankster invaded Theresa May’s conference speech, handing her a P45 form, joking that it was on the instruction of Boris Johnson.

He said “Boris asked me to give you this” as he managed to make his way to the front of the room and give it to her.

The prank has been described as a “massive security breach” as he managed to get within arm’s length of the Prime Minister.

The episode was certainly embarrassing for May, and luckily the security breach wasn’t anything worse than a prank played at her expense. May’s bigger problem is that it highlights her obvious political weakness in a party that also seems exhausted and bereft of any ideas, and it calls attention to the divisions that have opened up inside the government over “Brexit” and the ambitions of her would-be successors. In an article written before the speech, Isabel Hardman posed a question:

Can Theresa May change the narrative of a failing government with a nervous leader? Her big speech tomorrow needs to show that she has more fuel in the tank than the Labour government did as it ground towards its demise.

The speech didn’t show that, but then no speech could have. This isn’t a “narrative” that can be changed with rhetoric, but a political reality that the prime minister keeps trying to deny. May should have already resigned before now, and now it is really time for her party to get her to do that or find someone to replace her.