One of the main risks of wheeling Boris out this week was that he was never just going to be asked about this election in interviews. The Mayor and candidate for Uxbridge ended up saying ‘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’ when asked about becoming Tory leader. He knows as well as anyone else that the way this campaign is going, that this ‘wonderful thing’ might get underway within a month, or indeed in the more distant future.
His allies in Parliament have been very careful to refrain from courting support during the campaign. Their mantra has long been ‘low key and loyal’. And even though Johnson was holding friendly dinners to get to know Tory MPs better, the guest list was carefully selected. Sources close to Johnson’s Commons campaign team tell me they have been avoiding the Tory ‘awkward squad’: a group who it’s easy to court because they already can’t stand David Cameron, but who are louder than they are numerous and whose presence suggests trouble. Instead, most of Johnson’s guests have been Cameroons or at least currently loyal to Cameron. Allies explain that operating in this way firstly means Boris does not appear to be stirring up trouble and secondly stops his own leadership campaign for the ‘wonderful thing’, whether it be near or far, appearing to be simply a sponge for grievances, rather than something positive for the future of the Conservative party.
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