I have no doubt we have every chance of seeing Labour off when Tony Blair decides to call the election

Boris Johnson

"I am looking forward to getting stuck in to all the issues that matter to this constituency and serving the constituency as diligently and efficiently as I can.

"With the government in the state it is in, and the Conservatives well on the road to recovery, I have no doubt we have every chance of seeing Labour off when Tony Blair decides to call the election."

Mr Johnson said it would be up to the owners of The Spectator whether he remained as editor in the run-up to the next general election.

Mr Johnson had been a political writer and columnist for The Daily Telegraph newspaper before moving on to The Spectator.

Last laugh

However the Eton and Oxford-educated journalist is also well known for his appearance on the satirical quiz show Have I Got News For You. He was pilloried over his friendship with another old-Etonian Darius Guppy who was later jailed for fraud.

Mr Johnson took his revenge when he disclosed that the show's "impromptu" jokes and remarks were laboriously scripted.

The other two candidates on the shortlist for the Henley nomination were David Platt, a London barrister and Jill Andrew, a solicitor who stood for the Conservatives for Walthamstow at the last election.

Mr Heseltine took no part in the selection and his office said earlier he did not vote.