Poll: Only Boris can take on Miliband
Boris Johnson is the one Tory who could bring the Conservative party level with Labour, a new poll suggests.
A YouGov survey for the Sun found the London mayor could reduce Ed Miliband's 11-point advantage over the Tories to just one per cent.
"The Boris bounce is simply enormous. He is Britain's Heineken politician: refreshing parts of the public that other politicians can't reach," YouGoiv chairman Peter Kellner said.
"Even if his popularity doesn't last, it poses an awkward challenge not just to Cameron, but to Clegg and Miliband too."
Boris is riding high after an astonishingly successful Olympic Games in which he was the main political beneficiary, although strategists question if his popularity would be sustainable after a return to Westminster and a run at the Tory leadership.
For now, he easily outpolls any of the three party leaders on all eight of the leadership qualities YouGov polls for.
The ease with which Boris would wipe out Miliband's poll lead is a worrying sign for the Labour leader, because it shows how soft his support is with the right Tory candidate. But it will make even worse reading for Cameron, who only this weekend was reading reports of a leadership bids plots against him.
With Cameron as leader, Labour is heading for an overall majority of 92 seats, with the Tories losing 76.
But under Boris, Labour's overall majority would be just eight seats, while the Tories would only lose 29 of the seats they gained in 2010.
Almost two-thirds of the MPs who would lose their seats under Cameron would keep them under Boris – presenting a mouth-watering temptation for the Tory rank and file to rebel against the current leadership and lobby for the London mayor to take over.
