Is ebullient Boris on his best behaviour?

WHERE Boris Johnson is concerned, personal ambition may never be far beneath the surface. But those on the lookout for evidence of disloyalty will have found little to point to in yesterday’s speech at the Tory conference.

True, he could not resist a side-swipe at Chancellor Philip Hammond, disguised as an attack on Labour for wanting to leave Britain ‘in limbo – locked in the orbit of the EU but unable to take back control’.

Many may also argue that the Foreign Secretary strayed beyond his departmental brief with his broad-ranging assault on socialism and his references to Tory achievements at home.

But after a week of causing headaches for Theresa May, this was Mr Johnson on his best behaviour (and how significant that No 10 didn’t change a word of his draft).

Indeed, he paid handsome tribute to the Prime Minister, while giving his audience exactly what they wanted to hear from their licensed jester and morale-booster.

Best of all, he was infectiously upbeat about Brexit, pouring scorn on Remoaners such as the Financial Times – which, he said, makes ‘Eeyore look positively exuberant’.

Add a few well-aimed barbs at Labour (the Tories, he said, want a Government that works for everyone, while Mr Corbyn wants everyone to work for the Government) and for the first time in a tense few days, he gave the party something to cheer.

This is what Mr Johnson is good at – and he should stick to it.

Is it too much to hope he will take to heart Mrs May’s warning today that ministers should stop thinking about their own future – and focus instead on that of the people they were elected to represent?