Is Rory Stewart running to become London mayor because he’s bored?

Rory Stewart’s announcement that he would run as an independent candidate for Mayor for London was typically civilised. This was no political suicide bomb. Instead Stewart waited for his erstwhile party’s conference to finish before making his move. But this trademark decency does not render his decision any less barking to his detractors.

I’m on friendly terms with Stewart and had enthusiastically supported his Conservative leadership campaign which, after this abrupt defection, does leave me feeling like a bit of an arse if I’m honest.

But Rory is very hard to dislike, not least because his innate decency, ability and desire to listen and respond to ordinary people is clearly authentic. Yet ability and stickability are both important if you want to leave your mark in this world. Stewart’s critics point to his gadfly tendency – he has been a soldier, a diplomat, a university lecturer, held several ministerial positions and, of course, a Tory MP – as evidence that, far from animated by public duty, he’s running for Mayor because the addictive attention of the TV studios has waned.