Constituency profile: Uxbridge

He questioned 'Bozza', as he is known to friends and foes alike, about an infamous incident in his past, he says outside one of the area's main shopping centres.

"I saw him yesterday when he was out here campaigning," he says. "There were a lot of people around him, but I had to mention to him about that rugby tackle."

That particular challenge was back in 2006, when Chris was just 10, but the incident has gone down in Boris folklore.

Taking part in a charity England-versus-Germany football match, in front of 15,000 people, Mr Johnson accidentally passed the ball to a member of the opposition before attempting a rugby-style tackle to try to retrieve it.

What did the famously articulate Boris say when reminded of his behaviour? "He was a bit stuck for a moment about what to say and looked sheepish," says Chris, but, he adds with a grin "then he just laughed it off".

Chris, the conscientious local voter that he is, says that he also talked to the would-be MP about getting the local train services improved.

So, will he back Boris? "Course I will," he says.

His friend Fraser Wallcott, 18, is similarly impressed.

"He's funny," he adds. "He doesn't take himself too seriously. Though he can be serious when he wants to be".

Many in the constituency appear bemused at the chaos that occasionally sweeps their streets as the Boris machine hits town.

It has not gone unnoticed that David Cameron has suggested that Mr Johnson could be one of his eventual successors inside Number 10.

"It would not do any harm to the area to have your MP in the top job now would it?" asks Diane Smith, a retired landlady.

Roger Paton, who works in university procurement and says he has lived in the area for 34 years, takes the opposite view: "What difference would it make?"

Nevertheless, he says, he's supporting Boris, who has even inspired him to campaign in the election.

But perhaps surprisingly for a man looking for votes, Mr Johnson has not actually been spending that much time in the constituency.

In part that's because the seat is shaping up to be a fairly safe for the Tories.

In fact, Mr Johnson has been spending an awful lot of time in nearby constituencies in West London where the Tories are expected to face very tough fights against Labour.

The mayor insists, however, that he is not taking Uxbridge and South Ruislip for granted, despite his predecessor, John Randall's 11,216 majority.

On the streets of Uxbridge, there are some less than convinced by the blonde bombshell.

Even some of those who are considering voting for him.

Freddy Restall, 67, an ex-serviceman , says he knew people like Boris in the Army.

"We had a lot of people like him. We had to look after them when they came in. Officers, with lots of education and no common sense."

He says he is torn on whether he will vote for the Tory or Ukip's Jack Duffin, because "nobody is telling the truth expect Nigel Farage".

Others suggest they will vote for Chris Summers, Labour's candidate, who insists he is putting up a staunch fight in the face of the Boris juggernaut.

However, the fact that one of his potential backers, standing outside a flower stall near the station, calls him "David" perhaps does not bode well.

But many just seem happy with Boris.

What is the secret of his success?

According to Emma Wiseman, 23, who works at the local civic centre, it could be, for use of a better word, authenticity.

An undecided voter she says she has a "lot more reading to do" before deciding how to cast her vote.

She has also seen Boris campaigning, but avoided the crowds because there was too much "commotion". But she likes Boris, she adds.

Of the one-time Eton schoolboy and member of the Oxford's notorious Bullingdon Club drinking society, she adds: "He just seems very down to earth.

"A lot of the people that you see on TV can seen very snobbish. But he just seems like a normal person, ordinary.

"Often when you see him he looks quite scruffy and I think that is quite endearing.

"When you see David Cameron on the television he always looks very stiff and proper.

"I know he is the Prime Minister, but no-one looks like that all the time, do they?"