Boris Johnson insisted no one would vote for “a prat who gets stuck on a zip wire” following a stunt gone awry during a public event in East London. Mr Johnson was featuring as a “special guest” at Victoria Park to be the first person to ride the new zip line, before grinding steadily to a halt on the wire about 20m from the end. The then-Mayor of London was left hanging – clutching two Union Jack flags patriotically – before he was pulled to the ground safely.

With his usual bluster, the then-London Mayor was heard shouting “Get me a rope, get me a ladder!”

Boris took the mishap with typical good grace saying: “This is great fun but it needs to go faster.”

When one spectator asked how he was feeling, Boris politely replied: “Very, very well thank you,” waving his flags desperately in the minutes leading to his rescue.

Another onlooker shouted: “I heard Ken Livingstone set up the zip line.”

Then Prime Minister David Cameron joked at the time that only Boris Johnson could get stuck on a zip wire and manage to come out of it laughing.

He said: “If any other politician anywhere in the world was stuck on a zip-wire it would be a disaster. For Boris, it’s an absolute triumph.”

After the incident, Mr Johnson’s spokeswoman said he would not have scored highly was it an Olympic sport.

She said: “Clearly the judges are likely to mark him down for artistic interpretation and, unlike Team GB, he won’t be bagging any gold medals today but he remains unbowed.”

Mr Johnson has since emerged as a prominent member of the Conservative Party and on Thursday was confirmed as the leading candidate in the Tory leadership contest to take over Number 10 and Brexit negotiations from Theresa May following her resignation on June 7. 

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