Like an injured person lionsome of the struggle seemed to have faded from him during the prime minister’s questions.
But he was far from ready to stray into politics wilderness with his head bowed.
Just days ago, he roared, fought and lashed out to remain in office, unceremoniously shoving Michael Gove from cabinet, possibly with a hint of revenge for the latter who undermined his then leadership attempt in 2016.
By Wednesday, however, Mr. Johnson had clearly accepted his fate.
When he entered the room, he was cheered loudly by many Tory MPs.
A noxious tinge of hypocrisy hovered over the green benches as some approved MPs joined the “herd” that had finally acted so decisively to end his controversy and scandal-ridden premiership.
Chaos soon broke out.
Two Scottish nationalist Alba MPs were evicted from the chamber, with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle enlisting the Sergeant at Arms to ensure they leave after unleashing barely understandable attacks on the Prime Minister over some sort of referendum.
Once the bizarre pandemonium subsided, Sir Keir Starmer used his questions to attack Mr Johnson, as well as some of the eight contenders still in the game to take over the leader of the Tory pride.
First, the Labor leader asked the Prime Minister to remove “the absurd” status of non-dom that allows the “super-rich to avoid taxes”, a thinly veiled swipe at Rishi Sunak whose wife had the status of non-dom but there is not proof that the chancellor or his family are trying to evade paying their taxes.
Sir Keir then tore in the new cabinet, which could be one of the shortest lived in history.
“May I welcome the new cabinet to their places. We have a new chancellor who took a job from the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon and told him to quit on Thursday morning,” Sir Keir joked.
“A new Northern Ireland minister who once asked if you needed a passport to get to Derry. The new Minister of Education, whose deputy ministers have literally given the public the middle finger. It is really the loss of the country that they will only be in the post for a few weeks.
“Now the prime minister must feel demob-happy since he was removed from office. Finally he can throw off the shackles, say what he really thinks and forget to follow the rules.
“So, does he agree that it’s time to scrap the absurd non-dom status that allows the super-rich to avoid tax in this country?”
Mr Johnson replied: “It is perfectly true that I am grateful for the ability to express my opinion, which I have never really lost.
“But what I am focusing on is continuing the government of the country. As I just told you, from tomorrow £326, let alone non-stupid. Dom or non-dom, I don’t care. £326 is pouring into the bank accounts of eight million vulnerable people.”
Striking a tone of self-deprecation, he added: “One of the consolations of leaving office at this particular time is that the vacancies are at an all-time high.”
He then unleashed a trademark lexicon-loaded mocking attack on Sir Keir, saying: “Anyone would wipe the floor with Captain Crasheroony Snoozefest.
“And after a few weeks, that’s exactly what they’re going to do. They will unite around the winner and they will.”
However, the Labor leader seemed determined, not necessarily a common situation among PMQs.
But with the prime minister so wounded, Sir Keir turned his guns on ex-health minister Sajid Javid, who refused to say where he has always been fiscally domiciled – though he insists he has always followed the rules.
The Labor leader polled the Prime Minister: “He has been saying all week that he wants revenge on those who have wronged him. Here’s an idea, Prime Minister, if he really wants to hit them where it hurts, he needs to tighten up the rules against tax avoidance.
“Does he at least agree that anyone wanting to become prime minister should declare where they and their families are based for tax purposes and whether they have ever been beneficiaries of an offshore tax scheme?”
The Prime Minister replied: “As far as I know, everyone in this Parliament – everyone in this House – pays their full tax in this country.
“Members across the House need to stop this constant slander of each other. I think people pay their fair share of taxes, and rightly so.
“What we do, and it’s thanks to the tax revenue that we’ve had, that we can support the people of this country as we are.”
Sir Keir criticized the chancellor, calling Nadhim Zahawi “the MP for Stratford and Gibraltar”, while questioning his promises of tax cuts of “tens of billions of pounds”.
But then Mr Johnson threw in a curveball, hinting that he might not show up for this year’s last prime minister’s question next Wednesday, before the House comes up for the summer.
Could he be about to take a farewell trip abroad?
He would certainly be welcome in Kiev given his full support for Ukraine over Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of the country.
Or was it just a rhetorical blunder to open a line of attack on Sir Keir?
Whatever it was, Mr. Johnson wasn’t giving up yet.
“My party’s next leader can be elected by acclamation, so it’s possible this is our last showdown, it’s possible,” he said, which is true but unlikely as the Tory party leaders want their next leader to be elected by the party members, not just the MPs, which will take weeks.
However, the Prime Minister continued: “So I want to thank him for the style in which he behaved. I think it is fair to say that he has been considerably less lethal than many other Members of this House.
“There’s a reason for that: because in three years, despite all the odds, he’s never really come up with an idea, a plan, or a vision for this country.”
But he has since admitted that his days as prime minister are numbered, and he may have lowered the curtain on his latest PMQ appearance.
“It is absolutely true that I will not leave at a time of my choosing, it is absolutely true,” he said.
“But I am proud of the fantastic teamwork that has been involved in all those projects both nationally and internationally and I am also proud of the leadership I have provided.
“I leave with my head held high.”