Eddie Mair to Boris Johnson: “You’re a nasty piece of work aren’t you?”

Boris Johnson makes a tricky interviewee. He’s charming, vague, witty and able to turn the conversation to his advantage with his ornate language and humour. If all else fails, he does something with his hair.

But today the Mayor of London met his match with the equally charming and witty Eddie Mair on the Marr Show. Mair confronted him not just with persistent questions about his ambitions, but also clips from this week’s documentary on Johnson which appeared to show him discussing whether to hand over the details of a journalist to his friend Darius Guppy so Guppy could have him “physically assaulted.” Mair then moved in for the kill..

“And you, having heard that, tell your friend that that you will supply the address. What does that say about you, Boris Johnson? Making up quotes., lying to your party leader, wanting to be part of someone being physically assualted – you’re a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?”

Johnson wasn’t sure how to answer this or any of these questions, which is curious because if he expects to move further into the limelight in the coming years ahead of a leadership bid he might think it expedient to prepare a stock answer.