Why Boris will struggle to become PM

‘Just three months ago’, writes Tim Montgomerie in today’s Times (£), ‘it was almost fanciful to imagine Boris as a future leader.’ Notwithstanding today’s news, it still is. The idea that, unless David Cameron ‘finds an election game-changer, the party might very reluctantly reach for the blond-coloured nuclear button,’ is a great story. But, even if the rumours that the Mayor is planning to stand for Parliament again are true, securing the leadership of the Conservative Party is going to be very difficult indeed. Here’s why.

Now, I love Boris as much as the next floating voter: it’s not just that there’s something about him; it’s also because he seems prepared, unlike his more constrained counterparts at Westminster, to pick and mix policies which work regardless of whether they’re seen as left- or right-wing, liberal or conservative. Both of these things allow him, despite his privileged upbringing, to connect with ordinary people right across the political spectrum — and that’s something that not many politicians are able to do these days.