For Boris, choosing the right seat will only be half the battle

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[/audioplayer]Boris Johnson is to stand as an MP in 2015 — but where? In the next few weeks, his secret parliamentary campaign team (and there is one) expects him to pick his constituency. The Tories need a decision by the beginning of September, as an announcement any closer to the party conference will overshadow David Cameron’s own plans to talk about the manifesto, rather than watch hopelessly as cameras and journalists trail after Boris, asking the same question over and over again.

Uxbridge, where former deputy chief whip John Randall is standing down, is the favourite, with a 11,216 majority. The local association says it will make a decision in mid-September. Boris has promised to see his second mayoral term to its close in 2016, and Uxbridge would certainly help him do that, as it is at the end of a Tube line. But other seats are in play, too. His agents in Parliament say all those being considered would be compatible with him continuing to serve as Mayor.

Other seats include Hornchurch and Upminster: the current MP Dame Angela Watkinson is 72 and her 16,371 majority looks pretty cosy. In Hertsmere, the local association booted out its sitting MP, James Clappison, this summer, apparently for nothing more egregious than that he wasn’t very glamorous. The word in Hertsmere is that the local Tories want a higher-profile figure to defend the Conservatives’ 17,605 majority than Clappison, who was very good at attending constituency events, but an unknown on the national stage.

Boris is, of course, the opposite — although Hertsmere Conservatives should be careful what they wish for, as someone does still need to turn up to those thankless constituency events every once in a while, and the Mayor of London will not have the same amount of free time at his disposal as unglamorous Clappison.