The twin farces of Boris Johnson and the search for a Tory London mayoral candidate collided yesterday as he was forced to issue a statement that he was not ruling himself out of the race.

With less than two weeks to go before the close of nominations in the contest to select the party’s mayoral candidate, the Conservative leader’s office claimed yesterday afternoon that Mr Johnson was keen to stand.

A spokesman told The Times: “He’s definitely considering it. He’s not made a final decision but he’s definitely not ruling it out. It’s his own idea.”

Aides said that David Cameron would remain officially neutral but party sources made clear that the Conservative leadership believed that Mr Johnson had a high enough profile to take on Ken Livingstone.

“Boris is as well known a figure as Livingstone. It would be an intriguing prospect to see how he would fare against him,” a source said.

Minutes later, however, the Henley MP firmly quashed speculation that he was preparing to run. “I’m definitely not a candidate,” he said. “It would be a fantastic job but I’m greatly enjoying what I’m doing.”

But just as it seemed that Mr Johnson had delivered a humiliating rebuff to Mr Cameron, a statement was sent out in his name from Conservative headquarters reviving his fledgeling mayoral campaign. “Being Mayor of London would be a fantastic job and anyone who loves London would want to consider the possibility very carefully,” Mr Johnson said.

“I want to stress that this idea did not come from David Cameron or from anyone in his office but I have, of course, been very struck by the number of people who have been urging me to run. In my case, there are huge obstacles – above all, my commitment and responsibility to my constituency. It is hard to see how those difficulties could be overcome – but I am ruling nothing out.”

The confusion over Mr Johnson and Mr Cameron’s search for a suitable mayoral candidate will do little to restore confidence in either. It follows the failed recruitment of Greg Dyke, the former BBC Director-General, which died when Sir Menzies Campbell refused to add Liberal Democrat support to his candidature.

Other prominent figures to have ruled themselves out of the mayoral job include Sir John Major and Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington. Although Conservative HQ insists that voters will be presented with more than ten candidates in an open primary that takes place this autumn, no household name has emerged so far.

Meanwhile, another attempt by Mr Cameron to widen the Tories’ appeal – the recruitment to his Shadow Cabinet of a female Muslim lawyer – has attracted criticism from both wings of his party. Gay rights groups signalled their concern over the appointment of Sayeeda Warsi as the new Shadow Community Cohesion Minister. Ms Warsi has in the past campaigned against the reduction of the age of consent to gay sex and the repeal of Section 28. Ms Warsi’s remarks on the Iraq war and opposition to some security measures have provoked criticism from the Right.

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