Boris faces a battle in his own backyard

Boris Johnson has not just upset the PM with his decision to take a leading role in the Leave campaign for the EU referendum — there are tensions in his West London backyard.

As MP for Uxbridge and south ruislip, the London Mayor shares hillingdon Conservative Association HQ with government minister nick hurd, the MP for ruislip, northwood and Pinner.

hurd, like Johnson, is an old Etonian. But that is where the similarities end. hurd is dripping wet and, as a junior international Aid minister, is fervently pro-EU.

hurd’s father Douglas, a former Tory Foreign secretary, is also an unashamed cheerleader for all matters Brussels. And the younger hurd has a strong local following, having been an MP since 2005 to Johnson’s nine months.

in an interview last week, hurd senior, now in the house of Lords, Former Labour leader ed miliband returned to his alma mater Haverstock School to deliver a speech on ‘the skills necessary to succeed at work’. It must have been very short. criticised Justice secretary Michael Gove, another prominent member of Leave, for being ‘backward looking’ and called on the Tories to ‘come to their senses’ by remaining in the EU.

My Tory mole tells me: ‘it’s fair to say there is palpable tension within the two factions at Johnson and hurd’s party HQ. They will try to avoid being under the same roof at the same time.’

still, if the Leave side wins, Johnson will have less need for a constituency HQ. he’ll be measuring up for new curtains at no 10!

in Sonia Purnell’s excellent 450page unauthorised biography of Johnson, Just Boris, published in 2011, there is not a single entry in the index on the EU. how times change.