Boris johnson

An excerpt from Anthony Seldon's David Cameron biography claimed that George Osborne finds his Tory leadership rival Boris Johnson 'plain annoying'. Happily the pair put any differences aside today as the Chancellor of the Exchequer paid a visit to Johnson's constituency. The happy duo visited the Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge to see how a £1m investment will help to restore the historic site. This bunker, if you remember, was the one Osborne joking referred to in the Budget when he said 'I want to thank the member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip for bringing to my attention the dilapidated state of his campaign bunker'. The Mayor invited Osborne to check out the state of that campaign bunker, and the pair had great fun pushing flags across a map together.

A Jeremy Corbyn victory in the Labour leadership race now seems like a racing certainty. The consequences of this for Labour have been much discussed but in the magazine this week, I look at what it would mean for the Tories. The first, and most obvious, thing to say is that it would make 2020 the Tories’ election to lose — and they would have to make an epoch defining mistake to do so. But some Tories are worried about the prospect of a Corbyn victory. This isn’t just because they fear that bad opposition leads to bad government. But because they fret that Cameron and Osborne’s response to it will be to tack hard to the centre to try and pick up those voters disillusioned by Labour’s lurch to the left.

Anthony Seldon and Peter Snowdon's biography of David Cameron has not even been released yet but already it has managed to send ripples through Westminster. Revelations in the Mail on Sunday's excerpt of the tome included George Osborne's fears that an EU referendum could obstruct his path to Number 10, as well as a text David Cameron sent to Boris Johnson apparently telling him to 'f---ing shut up'. Only it may be best to take some of these stories with a pinch of salt for now, as concerns begin to grow regarding the accuracy of Seldon and Snowdon's account.

Oh dear. Although Lord Ashcroft said he would be pleasantly surprised if Anthony Seldon's biography of David Cameron offered anything more than 'a sanitised account' of his time in Number 10, an excerpt in today's Mail on Sunday should make interesting reading for Boris Johnson.

How do the Tories win over low-income workers for good? That’s the question occupying the mind of anyone seriously thinking about the 2020 election, rather than assuming that Jeremy Corbyn will win it for them. Today Boris Johnson turned his hand to answering that question in an eloquent and detailed speech which set out his stall on social mobility. Of course, every speech at the moment is viewed as part of the leadership contest, and given Boris hasn’t had a particularly stellar first term in the Commons, this speech did appear to be partly a reminder that he hasn’t gone away at all. In fact, it was a fine speech which reminded us that Boris is far more than just a funny man.

At 6:30pm this evening, London will descend into chaos as the City deals with yet another Tube strike. This time, Transport for London and the RMT trade union are squabbling over the introduction of the Night Tube — services running throughout Fridays and Saturday nights on a few lines. The union isn’t happy about the disruption it will cause to its members' lives, while TfL feels it has done it utmost to offer a fair deal.

Water cannons at the ready: the Tory leadership contest is officially underway. How does Mr S know this? Well, in a clear sign that George Osborne means business, he has changed his Twitter profile picture. Osborne is now in Conservative blue, offering a confident grin as he embarks on his campaign to move into Number 10. The new photo also displays a slimline Osborne in contrast to the old photo, which depicted a more laid back Chancellor. While Mr S will of course keep readers updated as Boris Johnson and Theresa May develop their online presences, Steerpike can't help wonder why Osborne didn't opt for this week's cover image of Octo-Osborne...

[audioplayer src="http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/theosbornesupremacy/media.mp3" title="Isabel Hardman and George Parker discus how George Osborne rules Westminster" startat=38] Listen [/audioplayer]Against the heavy artillery fire of the Labour leadership battle, the struggle of the Conservative leadership contest goes almost undetected outside Westminster. It is no less intense, even though the Conservatives will not elect a new leader for at least three years. After a week of the parliamentary recess, there is no question about who is winning. This week, for the first time, George Osborne overtook Boris Johnson as William Hill’s favourite. Not so long ago, Osborne was a mere limpet on David Cameron’s wetsuit, clinging on thanks to the patronage of his boss.

The spat between Boris Johnson and Theresa May over the acquisition of three second hand ones from the German police has the air of a dormitory water pistol fight that has left an unprepared Johnson standing in dripping pyjamas. It has become a received wisdom that the incident raises questions about Johnson’s fitness for high office. But does it? May’s claim that water cannon are dangerous is somewhat at odds with them being in routine use in Northern Ireland and deployed 364 times in the past four years without problems. The 67 reported issues regarding the ex-German water cannon are mostly trivial and have all been resolved to the satisfaction of the Metropolitan Police. One, for example, involved an instruction panel in German inside one vehicle.

In case the Labour leadership fracas has distracted you, there is still a Tory leadership contest going on, albeit with a slightly longer timetable. George Osborne has had a good week or so in terms of his chances of succeeding David Cameron when he stands down, and today his main contender Boris Johnson had a bad day. Boris was sitting behind Theresa May in the House of Commons as the Home Secretary announced that she would not be giving permission for the Metropolitan Police to deploy three second-hand water cannons in London. The Mayor bought these cannons for £218,000. He pulled a range of unhappy faces as May announced that she would not allow police to use the cannons because they had ‘capacity to cause harm’.

With a Tory majority to celebrate, the Cabinet turned out in full force for this year's Spectator summer party. As David Cameron and George Osborne caught up with their old head of strategy Steve Hilton, Sajid Javid and Michael Fallon enjoyed the British heatwave. Harriet Harman was there on behalf of Labour, with the departing deputy leader sharing a tender moment with Boris Johnson in the garden. Johnson meanwhile was on fighting form over the Heathrow expansion recommendations. However, he also found time to say some kind words about his brother Jo Johnson's plan to change the current university grade system to put a stop to students who 'coast within the 2:1 band'. As the proud owner of a 2:1 degree from Oxford, did Boris think it was a fair comment from Jo?