Forget House of Cards. This is more like that season of Dallas that turned out to be a dream.

The script is impossible. A twice-booted minister who has been at the centre of weeks of all kinds allegations of impropriety and abuse and public funds returns from self-imposed exile to deal a mistrusted party he once cowed as a factional warlord an almighty blow over a vital piece of dubious legislation and emerges as the hero of the day.