WITH a veteran Worcestershire MP standing down at the next election, speculation is rife about a possible move to the county by Boris Johnson.

The current Mayor of London was mobbed as he arrived for the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Monday, and has enjoyed a boost in popularity thanks to the London Olympics.

He’s been touted as a potential future Conservative Party leader, but to do so he needs to find a safe Tory seat to return to Parliament.

With Peter Luff – the current Conservative incumbent for Mid- Worcestershire – vacating his safe seat at the next election expected in 2015, there could be an opening for the blond-haired former MP for Henley-on-Thames known for his eccentricities.

Mr Luff said he had not had an approach from anyone about discussing fighting the seat – the 73rd safest Tory constituency – on the party’s campaign ticket in 2015.

He said: “It’s far too early for me to try to try to mark any scorecards for the runners and riders.”

However, one highly-placed county Conservative Party insider, who declined to be named, cautioned against the odds of a house move by Boris, saying: “You know, I’m really not sure Worcestershire and the Midlands suits Boris. I think he’s keener on southern England.

“I actually think he might be a bit ‘posh’ for here – it’s a long commute from Worcestershire to London, you know.”

However, with the Boundary Commission review proposals on where parliamentary constituencies will fall in Worcestershire due next week, the matter of which county seat Boris could stand for is also cause for speculation.

There are revised proposals to reduce by 31 seats the total number of parliamentary seats.

Within the current option, Mid- Worcestershire would disappear from the political map entirely and be subsumed mainly into a new Evesham constituency, while another part would go into a newly named Malvern and Ledbury seat.