Twice, the Evening Standard supported Boris Johnson to be the Mayor of London. Today we back him to be the next prime minister.

Our interview with him today — the first he’s given to a daily newspaper in this campaign — reinforces our judgment that, in a field of talented candidates, he has the best shot at giving Britain the three things it desperately needs from the next occupant of No 10.

First, Mr Johnson is the candidate who has a chance of uniting this divided government. He should be under no illusion that it will be a monumental task.

To avoid the fate of the outgoing Prime Minister, who laboured in office but not in power, he must harness the credibility he has with Brexiteers to the liberal internationalist credentials he displayed as Mayor.

He says today he can make these two Borises “completely coherent”. He will need to if he is to have any chance of being remembered as, he says today, “somebody who helped unite the country and unite society”.

The fact that he already has the support of half of all Tory MPs, drawn from all wings of the party, is a promising start. Proof will come with the government he puts together. But none of the other contenders has anything like the number or breadth of his backers, and those numbers and reach count in this hung Parliament and his split party.

That’s the realpolitik.

Second, Mr Johnson is the candidate who has the most room for manoeuvre to get the country out of the Brexit mess. That may seem a paradox, as the one who helped get us into that mess, and who again today says he wants “to get Brexit done by October 31”.

But he is careful not to “guarantee” that date — Mr Johnson may be loose with words when it comes to the fates of others but never when it comes to his own. He says he has left no-deal on the table, which he knows would do enormous damage to our economy and security. But so have the other remaining candidates.

In truth, all of them know the House of Commons simply wouldn’t let it happen.

Mojo

Instead, ask yourself which of these potential prime ministers is most likely to persuade the Conservative Party to vote for a repackaged version of the existing deal? The one with the greatest credibility with hard Brexiteers.

Indeed, which of these possible leaders could you imagine making the even bigger leap and asking the country again for its views? The candidate who first came up with the idea of two referendums back in early 2016. Of course, he denies all this — and, like the other candidates, promises to get a renegotiated withdrawal agreement out of the EU. Perhaps he will. Most likely he will not.

But one thing is for sure, having finally arrived in Downing Street, Mr Johnson won’t be in a hurry to leave it. Opportunism knocks.

Finally, Mr Johnson is the candidate who might just get Britain feeling good about itself again.

Three years ago this country was full of optimism about its future. Today it is in the slough of despond. A far-left Marxist government looms in the wings. It will take more than a bulldog spirit and a funny speech to turn that around.

He knows that there’s a “serious job of work to be done” — and his more sober approach to this campaign is a start.

We have set out the steps needed to restore national confidence, and it’s great to hear him echoing them today. Investment in “education, infrastructure and technology”, backing high-speed trains and the Northern Powerhouse to “reach parts of the UK that feel left behind”. “Sticking up for wealth creation”, building on the national living wage, as a way of returning to the rising incomes that the pall of Brexit has destroyed. A celebration of our diversity, and a belief in the “good” that immigration can do, as a way to attract the hardest-working and most talented to our shores.

On all of these things the Tories have badly lost their way — and much won’t be affordable if Mrs May is allowed to leave a note behind to her successor saying: “I’m afraid there’s no money.”

But if Mr Johnson governs as the “modern Conservative” he promises to be today he can put his party, and country, back on track.

That’s why we believe if there’s one of these candidates who can give Britain back its mojo, it’s BoJo.