Mind you, it's only two months since they said that Boris was having the "last laugh".Apparently not:
The Tories suffered an embarrassing setback last night after Boris Johnson was forced to sack his deputy for lying about his past.
Ray Lewis, a charismatic community leader, was dumped after what looked like a catastrophic misjudgment by the new London mayor.
A torrent of allegations about Mr Lewis, covering sexual misconduct, financial wheeler- dealing and physical abuse of pupils threatened to tarnish the Tory success story.
Mr Johnson had tried to defend his deputy, but was forced to backtrack after it emerged that Mr Lewis had wrongly passed himself off as a magistrate.
The announcement capped a day of chaos that was in danger of tainting David Cameron, following lurid tales of Mr Lewis's time as an Anglican-priest.
The Tories had hoped that Mr Johnson had shed his reputation for blunders, and had become a serious politician committed to the responsibilities of his office.
But the controversy over Mr Lewis will revive fears among MPs that Mr Johnson is a liability who could derail what was beginning to look like the Tory leader's triumphant march to power.
Just two months ago, Mr Cameron embraced Mr Johnson as a symbol of the newfound popularity of the Conservatives.
Critics pointed out that Mr Cameron was also an enthusiastic backer of Mr Lewis' work as a community leader, praising him as an 'inspirational leader'.
But there were signs that his office intervened to end the crisis after the Ministry of Justice said it had no record of Mr Lewis as a magistrate.
Last night Mr Johnson's reputation for taking risks was seen as a growing liability among Tories uneasy about the way he is running his administration.
His decision to call a press conference on Thursday with Mr Lewis was seen to have backfired, after it became clear he was not aware of the scale of the charges against his deputy.
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