BoJo to stand for a second term as London Mayor

Today, it seems, the uncertainty is going to come an end: Boris Johnson will confirm that he is running for a second term as Mayor of London in May 2012. In truth, though, we probably shouldn’t have expected anything else. The timings of the Parliamentary term, and the inavailability of safe seats, always made an early return to Westminster unlikely – even if that’s what Boris had wanted. Stir the Olympic Games into the mix, and the lure of City Hall must have been too powerful to resist.

As Ben Brogan says, this could be a timely boost for the Tories. The Boris campaign will be launched, to much jubilation, at the Birmingham conference next month. With the spending review bearing down – and, with it, the most difficult period yet for the coalition – that blonde mop on a bike could cheer the party faithful no end.