On the weekend the Mail frontpaged a meeting between Zac Goldsmith and Boris in which, they claimed, Zac outlined how if he stood down in protest against Heathrow expansion plans, Boris could stand in his place and return to parliament. Subsequently sources around Zac and Boris have variously claimed it was only “jokingly” mentioned and “fanciful”, with Boris using the Heseltinian word formulation that he had “absolutely no plans to return to the House of Commons”. So was it only jokingly mentioned by Goldsmith?

Guido has it from reliable sources that it very definitely was mentioned and that Zac went through the strength of feeling on a ward-by-ward basis in the constituency, taking Boris through a detailed analysis of the hostility towards Heathrow expansion in his constituency. Zac argued that either of them would win a by-election if he stood down in protest at a policy change. Tory MPs tell Guido  that Zac is disillusioned with being an MP and may not stand at the next election in any event. It might be preferable for Zac to go out in a blaze of glory on a matter of principle which simultaneously opens the way neatly to a challenge to Cameron if he changes the position on Heathrow expansion…