The media trailed Boris Johnson yesterday - even catching the Conservatives' former arts spokesman out jogging while dressed in a pair of Bermuda shorts and bandana patterned with the skull and crossbones.

Johnson denied suggestions that he had misled Tory leader Michael Howard.

"No, I certainly didn't. Will you kindly hop it?" he told reporters and photographers.

Asked if he thought that he could bounce back, he said: "I think so."

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said that Johnson had failed to live up to the standards required by Michael Howard.

"What has happened is that Michael has made it clear that, if Boris were to have responsibilities on the frontbench, Michael required of him a certain standard that he did not match up with."