Boris Johnson says it would be 'a wonderful thing' to be Conservative leader

Boris Johnson has said it would be a "a wonderful thing" to be considered as a future Conservative Party leader as he confirmed the worst-kept secret in politics.

At the same time, the Mayor of London played down his prospects of succeeding David Cameron. After campaigning with the Prime Minister in South West London, he told Sky News: "It is at least five years away which is an aeon in British politics, by which time whatever my personal ambitions may be, there will be thrusting young men and women who will be overtaking me and who knows, it will all be different.”

Mr Johnson, who is the Tory candidate in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, said: "In the dim, distant future, obviously it would be a wonderful thing to be thought to be in a position to be considered for such an honour but I think it highly unlikely. As I’ve said many, many times before that it’s more likely that I will be reincarnated as an olive or blinded by a champagne cork or locked in a disused fridge.”

Mr Johnson said the opinion polls show that the Conservatives "are nosing in the right direction" and now "consistently ahead" of Labour. He suggested the election will echo the 1992 contest, when voters turned away from Labour at the last minute. He predicted that, "in the last few days" of the campaign, voters would focus on the choice.

Yesterday Mr Cameron suggested that people questioned whether he had the passion to be prime minister because of his “smoothness.” Hitting back at his Tory critics, he told The Spectator magazine: “I feel I have worked my socks off for the last 10 years [since becoming Tory leader] to get to this point. I feel we are on the brink of something amazing in our country. If I don’t succeed on 7 May, I will be furious - more for my country — but furious for myself. We have done so much to get so far — I do not want to pull back now. If I need to do more to communicate that, I will.”