Boris and Dave are ‘no soulmates’

A new, updated version of Andrew Gimson's biography of Boris Johnson is published this week. Writing in today's Daily Telegraph, the author muses on the relationship between the London mayor and the Tory leader David Cameron, claiming that while both men share superficially similar backgrounds - Eton, Oxford, membership of the Bullingdon Club - they are far from soulmates.

Writes Gimson: "Boris and Cameron are often described as friends, but this is highly misleading. It would be more accurate to say that they are on friendly terms, but have never spent, or wished to spend, much time with each other." He then quotes a well-placed observer of the two men: "They have no history of friendship and Boris has never been part of Cameron's set. Boris would find the idea of going on holiday with the members of that set atrocious."

The reason for this, according to Gimson, who used to work with Johnson on the Daily Telegraph, is because "Cameron is a favoured son of the establishment", while Johnson is an "outsider, a man on genial terms with everyone but who has no circle of political intimates". He adds: "Cameron's instinct is to work within the existing framework of rules. Boris frets under such restraint. Cameron believes in order. Boris believes in being free. Cameron is bound to regard Boris as bit disreputable, while Boris is bound to regard Cameron as a bit limited.”

Gimson is convinced that if Johnson makes a good fist of running London, he could pose a serious threat to the Tory leader. He concludes: "If he succeeds, he can entrench himself as the darling of the Tory party, a man who could yet become prime minister by acclamation. It is possible it will all end in disaster: many a term of office that opens in high hopes closes in ignominy. But it is also possible that the emerging rivalry between Cameron and Boris will mark the next period of our politics as deeply as the Blair-Brown rivalry marked Labour's years of prosperity."