Boris Could Run For Third Term As Mayor

Boris Johnson has signalled he could stand for a third term as Mayor of London - but only if there is overwhelming public support.

The senior Tory, widely tipped as a successor to David Cameron as party leader, has previously said he will stand down in 2016 after eight years in the job.

But he has admitted regretting the decision and, on his monthly LBC radio show, joked that he could be persuaded to stand again if there was a "reverse Morsi" in the capital.

His quip about the mass protests in Cairo against the Egyptian president came as he faced further questions about his ambition to be prime minister.

Asked about his future plans by a listener, Mr Johnson said politicians should be careful not to "do things for too long" but admitted that he had discussed the idea of staying on with friends.

"You mean, if it was a sort of a 'reverse Morsi' situation? If there were hundreds of thousands of people actively calling for an extension of the administration?" he asked.

"The truth is that there are so many things we are trying to do at the moment that I know I am not going to be able to get in in time for 2016 that it is becoming increasingly...

"I won't deny it, it is something I think about and something that I've even talked to friends about but the reality is that after eight years you've been at it for a long time in a very big job.

"You see what happens to people who do things for too long. You've got to be fair to the electorate, you've got to be sure you are doing your best.

"There will come people who will have fantastic ideas and who will have fresh ways of thinking about things."

Labour predecessor Ken Livingstone achieved some good things for London but "wanted to go on for too long", he added.

"The truth is, I'm stepping down in 2016. After that, who knows what will happen."

Pressed again if he was sure he could not be persuaded to stay, he joked: "It would have to be pretty massive. You really would have to get Trafalgar Square full."

During the same show, Mr Johnson put himself on a collision course with Mr Cameron by reviving calls for illegal immigrants to be offered an amnesty.

The Prime Minister slapped down a similar call from a Tory backbencher last week, warning it would send out a "terrible signal of Britain as a soft touch".

But Mr Johnson insisted clandestine workers were already effectively immune because of failures in deportation and the work of "ambulance-chasing lawyers".

He argued that it would be better to allow those who had been here 12 years or more to stay and pay their share of tax instead of working in the underground economy.

Opinion polls indicate having Mr Johnson as leader would give the Tories a major boost and put intense pressure on Labour.

A recent YouGov survey suggested he would help mitigate the thread of Ukip and lure up to a third of the eurosceptic party's supporters.

The Mayor, who was at Eton and Oxford with Mr Cameron, has said he has more chance of being reincarnated as an olive than becoming PM.

But earlier this year, he finally admitted he would love to "have a crack" at the job if the "ball came loose from the back of the scrum".

Former Number 10 spin doctor Andy Coulson fanned the flames in May by saying Mr Johnson "desperately wants to be prime minister" but would not stab Mr Cameron in the back.

Mr Coulson claimed the Mayor would prefer to "ride in on his bike and save party can country" if Mr Cameron were to lose power in 2015.

Asked on Tuesday about the prospect of Mr Johnson standing for a third term as mayor, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister thinks Boris Johnson is doing an excellent job as mayor of London and long may he continue to do so."