It was early 2006: the launch of Cameronism, “Vote Blue Go Green” and “hug a hoodie”. The Conservatives wanted to show they could attract votes in Scotland, and among students. The Edinburgh university rector election, they decided, was their chance. And their candidate, at the height of his ‘Have I Got News for You’ popularity, was Boris Johnson.
A second-year student at the time, I’d nominated the then Green MSP Mark Ballard for the position and was preparing his campaign when Johnson made the announcement. Where we’d struggled to gain attention, the press went wild for Johnson, turning the vote into national news and crowning the shadow Higher Education Minister (that was his job back then) the presumptive winner before a ballot had been cast.
Johnson came to Edinburgh more in the manner of a conquering victor than a humble candidate, and The Student newspaper wrote a celeb-gossip style column about how he toured posh clubs frequented by the university’s notorious ‘yah’ crowd, signing at least one young woman’s chest in the process.
