Boris gives scathing verdict on Ken's 'very sleazy' reign

In an interview for Total Politics magazine, due out this Friday, the Mayor of London gives his most savage assessment yet of Mr Livingstone's eight-year reign in the capital.

But in a further gaffe that will be seized on by his Labour critics, Mr Johnson also makes clear that he still harbours ambitions to be Tory party leader and declares that being Mayor is a "hundred thousand" times bigger than being a Shadow minister.

Mr Johnson said that the allegations about grants given by the London Development Agency were still active and pointed to a culture at City Hall.

"I think parts of Ken's regime, or parts of the immediate vicinity of his regime, had become pretty sleazy, or very sleazy indeed. I don't for one minute think Ken was personally corrupt, but it's like any bunch of guys who've been around too long," he said.

"I think they were very, very casual with public money and they were reckless in the way they spent it. The worst thing they did was undermine confidence in the ability of this body and particularly the London Development Agency to manage public money."

He admits that his recent Forensic Audit Panel did not conclude on allegations that public funds had gone missing, but stresses that the police are still looking closely at the affair.

"Don't forget there are six or seven police investigations going on, some of which will almost certainly lead to prosecutions," he says.

Mr Johnson also risked irritating Tory HQ just a day after he dismissed David Cameron's "broken society" message as "piffle".

When asked about his own future political ambitions, Mr Johnson replied by quoting Michael Heseltine's infamous formulation whenever he was asked about challenging Margaret Thatcher.

"Look, I really cannot foresee the
circumstances in which I'll be called upon to serve in any such office," he said.

He added that his current job was much more important than being a shadow minister.

"How big it is. I'm in government. This is government. This is big. This is huge. Huge, huge. This is bigger than my last job as a shadow spokesman by a factor of a hundred thousand."