LONDON, U.K. -- Let鈥檚 call it the lockdown blues, and it鈥檚 spreading as fast as the pandemic that caused it.

People want out. They want it to be over. And they鈥檙e angry.

Instead of clapping in support of NHS workers, as we have been doing every Thursday night for weeks, there is a new movement taking shape鈥攖o stand at our windows and shout boos at Boris Johnson.

鈥淏oos for Boris.鈥

What a long way down for a prime minister who reached the pinnacle of his popularity鈥攁nd sympathy鈥攁fter becoming infected and almost dying of COVID-19.

I will repeat the phrase his father used at the time, because it seemed so inappropriately flippant: 鈥淏oris almost took one for the team.鈥

A good many on his team are now in a state of deep dismay, and bitterly so.

This is a story about living under lockdown for nine excruciating weeks, unable to visit aging parents, unable to bury loved ones, unable to hug or even touch friends.

And it worked. People followed the rules because they believed in the rules. Believed staying at home would save lives, just as Boris said it would.

Ask the British today what they think, and you will hear a very different story, a livid and furious story. It goes like this: why should we follow the rules when you don鈥檛.

The you in question is Dominic Cummings, sometimes referred to as Downing Street鈥檚 Rasputin. He is Boris Johnson鈥檚 senior adviser, the most powerful man in Britain after the prime minister鈥攗nelected, intimidating, and widely loathed.

He once invited 鈥渨eirdos and misfits鈥 to apply for government jobs.

With millions of people locked down at home, Cummings drove five hours north to his parents鈥 farm in Country Durham. His wife had been ill. He was worried about childcare for their son, in case he came down with COVID-19, like his boss. Which he did.

Just a concerned dad, looking after his family.

The British are simply not buying it. A man who helped write the lockdown guidelines, broke the guidelines. He did not offer regrets. He did not admit any wrongdoing. And he has not been fired.

A political fury has been unleashed.

Try this quote from a former chief of staff to Tony Blair: 鈥淪ixty-five million of us have been locked up for weeks, and this guy has the cheek to break the rules鈥nd then tell us he acted reasonably.鈥

It adds up to a potential disaster for Boris Johnson, who likes to be liked, and the polls show he isn鈥檛 right now鈥攄own 20 points in just a few days.

He鈥檚 even lost the support of the Daily Mail, which ran a dozen blistering pages on Cummings鈥 pandemic road show, under the headline,

In the same scathing tone, a Guardian columnist today summed up Johnson鈥檚 dilemma:

Dominic Cummings may end up taking one for the team.