Watch: Boris Johnson dodges the question on his cocaine use

After spending some time in the shadows ahead of the first round of voting in the Tory leadership contest, Boris Johnson officially launched his campaign today, giving a speech in central London where he reiterated his intention to take Britain out of the EU by 31st October.

Unsurprisingly, considering his confusing array of past comments on the topic, the topic of drugs was soon brought up. Johnson was first asked if he’d ever committed a crime, to which he confessed to occasionally breaking the 70mph speed limit. Honing in, the former Foreign Secretary was then asked directly about his use of cocaine. Citing an interview Johnson gave to GQ in the past, when he suggested that he had indeed taken the drug, the Mail’s Jason Groves asked if that was definitely true and if he regretted taking a class A drug?

Johnson responded by saying the ‘canonical account of this event when I was 19 has appeared many, many times’ before quickly moving the conversation on, adding:

‘And I think what most people in this country really want us to focus on in this campaign, if I may say so, is what we can do for them, and what our plans are for this great country of ours.