There’s only one reason why Boris Johnson wants to be an MP

He still believes he can make the ultimate comeback and return to 10 Downing Street, writes Andrew Woodcock

Johnson knows that a hefty chunk of the Tory membership want him back (Getty)

Boris Johnson’s decision to fight the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency at the next general election effectively amounts to confirmation that he believes he will at some point return as leader of the Conservative Party.

No one who has studied the former prime minister could believe that he wants to stay in the House of Commons in order to serve quietly as an assiduous constituency MP or as loyal voting fodder for his successors as leader. If he wants to retain his place on the green benches, it can be for one reason only – that he still believes he can make the ultimate comeback and return to 10 Downing Street.

October’s abortive bid to replace Liz Truss as PM, little over a month after his ejection from No 10, laid bare the insatiability of his yearning to reclaim the crown he believes was wrongly taken from him over Partygate.