ANNE ROBINSON was the Tories’ choice for Mayor of London ahead of Boris Johnson, according to the Weakest Link presenter herself.


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“I don’t think I’ve ever revealed this,” Robinson told The Independent, “but, before the Tories asked Boris to be their candidate for Mayor of London, they asked me if I’d stand.”

“I wasn’t interested.”

Hard to believe now, maybe, but for a long time Johnson wasn’t a popular candidate at Tory central office for the 2008 Mayoral election. Party high-ups thought him too gaffe-prone to mount a serious challenge to Ken Livingstone.

In the run-up to Johnson eventually getting the Tory nomination – mainly due to the lack of a famous alternative – the party grew increasingly desperate in its search for a candidate.

At one point the plan was to put up popular TV executive Greg Dyke in a joint-candidacy with the Liberal Democrats and former Radio 1 DJ Mike Read and sex industry stalwart Peter Stringfellow were also considered by activists.

Like Robinson, Dyke and Stringfellow turned the Tories down. Read’s campaign failed to gain any momentum and he ended up backing Boris.