Ford does a stunning one-eighty. Now what?

And new Deputy Minister on the block

ABOVE THE FOLD

FLIP FLOP — It seemed inevitable — still, a stunning reversal nonetheless.

Against a ministerial backdrop — and after digging in his heels all summer — Premier DOUG FORD did a one-eighty on the hot-potato Greenbelt land swap, apologizing for the “mistake” and promising to never touch the protected zone again.

So, what changed? Ford made the announcement in Niagara Falls, flanked by his front bench to put up a united front after losing two ministers and at least two staffers to the debacle (more on that below). But behind closed doors, he was hearing anecdotes from his PC MPPs about angry constituents and getting internal polling that shows his popularity is in the dumps.

One theory: The Integrity Commissioner’s reports could also potentially be enough for the RCMP — which is still sniffing around — to go to a judge and ask for a warrant to dig deeper.

More juicy nuggets: In his latest, Ethics watchdog J. DAVID WAKE concluded that he couldn’t dig deeper into NDP Leader MAR…