Boris storms back to the Commons

Boris Johnson stormed back into the Commons after a seven-year absence with a comfortable win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. After the result was declared —  at 4.30 on the morning of his wedding anniversary — Johnson said it had been “an amazing night for the Conservatives... a remarkable turnaround”. He will now spend a year in the roles of backbench MP and mayor of London, just as his Labour predecessor Ken Livingstone did between 2000 and 2001. Johnson, who won 50.2% of the vote, pledged to see out his term as mayor, insisting there was “a huge amount still to be done. We’ve got to make sure Crossrail 2 is properly embedded and... do all the other things in London we’ve got to do.”  He is widely expected to take a senior Cabinet role in a new Tory administration, possibly in charge of national infrastructure, once his second term at City Hall finishes next May. He immediately pledged to join neighbouring MP, Labour’s John McDonnell, in “lying down in front of those bulldozers” to stop a third Heathrow runway being built. Johnson fought off 12 rivals, including the Monster Raving Loony Party.