Boris hits the campaign trail — and admits being Tory leader would be a ‘wonderful thing’

The Tories’s not-so-secret weapon has finally been deployed. Boris Johnson hit the campaign trail with David Cameron today, solving a jigsaw puzzle, painting with some children (above) and exuding a bonhomie missing from the campaign so far. But the dangers of letting Boris loose were also seen in an interview on Sky News. When asked, multiple times, by Kay Burley if he would like to succeed Cameron as Tory leader, Boris edged a scintilla closer to saying ‘yes’. At first, the Mayor of London deflected:

‘By 2020, I hope I will still be alive and still in Parliament but kaleidoscope of politics will have changed and rotated. There will be all sorts of new possibilities

When pushed again by Burley, he said ‘it is not something that is on my agenda now’ before conceding:

‘In the dim and distant future, it would be a wonderful thing to be thought to be in a position to be considered for such an honour’

He hurriedly said how unlikely it was he would become party leader, that the proposition was not on his radar and how some ‘young thruster’ would most likely overtake him. But Boris knows this morsel will make all of tomorrow’s papers and add a little excitement to the campaign — despite the fact it’s not much different to his previous line: ‘if the ball came loose from the back of a scrum – which it won’t – it would be a great, great thing to have a crack at.’

Aside from this remark, Boris has remained loyal. He said the campaign doesn’t feel like 2001 or 2005 and the mood was better than 2010. For those arguing the Tory campaign has been too negative, Boris dismissed these concerns as ‘namby pamby’ and suggested the attacks are just ‘a spot of common or garden political imagery’. Boris is no stranger to punchy politics — for example, he described Ken Livingstone in 2012 as a ‘fucking liar’ over tax arrangements (another Lynton Crosby-run campaign). Despite the distraction over rumours about his future, his colourful presence shows that Boris can bring just the kind of ‘pizzazz’ Isabel reported Tories are desperate for.