ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Boris Johnson today ended months of speculation over his return to Parliament by announcing he is seeking to become the Tory candidate for a London seat.

The Mayor of London this afternoon threw his name into the hat for the contest for the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

He told The Standard: “I am sure there will be plenty of excellent candidates and I look forward to making my case to the association.”

Mr Johnson has yet to submit a formal application but he has to do this by Thursday.

The current Conservative MP, Sir John Randall, who had a majority of 11,216 at the 2010 election, is standing down next year.

Local Conservatives expected to have more than 100 people applying to be the MP for the suburban seat.

But this number may fall given that Mr Johnson will be the favourite.

Sir John has stressed that the Mayor of London will not be a shoo-in and that he will have to convince local party members that he will be committed to representing the area.

“If he got into the final three or four he couldn’t rely on just getting in because he is Boris. He will have to give a good speech," he said earlier this month.

“He will have to prove he is not just coming to use it just to get into Parliament. I think he understands this.

“If he just turned up and made a not-thought-about-it-much sort of speech that wouldn’t go down well.”

Seven out of ten Londoners, according to a recent YouGov poll, believe Mr Johnson is seeking to become an MP again in order to become Tory leader.

Mr Johnson is set to continue as Mayor until 2016, as well as being an MP if elected in 2015.

Given the Tory majority in the constituency, he would be expected to win.

But Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman accused him of using the London Mayoralty as a “stepping stone” to return to the Commons to pursue his leadership ambitions.

Tory party chairman Grant Shapps said: “Whether representing Uxbridge or elsewhere, Boris back in Parliament can only be a good thing for team GB because he’s a gold medal politician.”

A poll commissioned by the former Conservative Party chairman Lord Ashcroft found that voters in the constituency would be more likely to back the Tories if Mr Johnson was selected. The Conservatives' share of the vote swelled from 42 per cent to 52 per cent if the Mayor was chosen to fight the seat, the poll found.

If selected, Mr Johnson will complete a dramatic return to Westminster after he left Parliament in 2008 to become London Mayor.