David Maddox: Colourful figure of Boris Johnson appears to be a dream come true for Tory activists

THERE was a moment in the main conference hall yesterday when the assembled ranks of Tory activists, who had dutifully filed in to hear Chancellor George Osborne speak, held their breath. The business minister Michael Fallon was announcing the warm-up act.

“Let me introduce you to the man who delivered the most successful Olympics ever...” Pause for dramatic effect. “Paul Deighton!” You could hear the sigh of disappointment among members before the polite applause. “I thought Boris was coming on,” one lady muttered.

London mayor Boris Johnson is actually due to give a major speech at conference today and last night he was at a packed fringe celebrating the aforementioned Olympics.

But the reason the party membership is so keen to see him goes well beyond the feel-good factor of the 2012 Games, and his natural entertainment value.

This is a party which is looking for a leader. They have a leader in Prime Minister David Cameron, but many of are beginning to wonder if they have the right leader.

In the stalls at the conference Cuff & Co are running a small competition on I love Dave and I love Boris cufflinks; at the last count Boris was marginally ahead.

The reasons for the dissatisfaction are many. The failure to grow the economy, the coalition with the Lib Dems, the feeling that Cameron and his cliquey pals are too posh and don’t understand the middle class, and then there were his attempts to modernise the party and its outlook.

Mr Cameron has been forced to drop his modernising instincts and put in right-wing ministers in his recent reshuffle, going against his “hug a hoodie” and climate change views. So while Cameron has lost his mojo why is it that many Tories want to turn to Bojo?

Boris Johnson in many ways has the same weaknesses as Cameron. He is Eton educated, he has partly lumped himself in with the climate change lobby, at least on Heathrow’s expansion.

He is also a leading Tory voice in favour of gay marriage. While he plays very well to the London metropolitan set, he does not help in the areas the Tories need to win back, such as the north of England or Scotland. And, as his infamous comments on Liverpool showed, he is gaffe prone.

Essentially what they like about him though is that he can speak the Tory creed, especially on growth and being pro-business, in a popular way. In a line-up of grey politicians provides spectacularly colourful box office.

There are serious alternatives if and when David Cameron steps down, which is unlikely to be before the 2015 election. They include former leader now Foreign Secretary William Hague and, interestingly, a Scot, Education Secretary Michael Gove. But while the coalition government continues to struggle in its unhappy marriage then it will be hard for Tory activists to stop dreaming of Bojo.