As Boris dreams of becoming PM, his inability to keep it in his trousers has made his personal life the story once again

BORIS Johnson’s father Stanley was walking back from the final assignment of his tough, nine-month MI5 training course when he spotted a young blonde “leaning provocatively” over the bonnet of her car.

Stanley, then in his early 20s, got it started, hopped in alongside her . . . and failed the course because it was a deliberate ploy to test if he could be distracted by a pretty face.

Fast forward five decades and never has the phrase “Like father, like son” proved so apt.

Boris’s own lofty ambitions could now lie in tatters after his dalliance with a “blonde bombshell” is said to have proved the final straw for his wife of 25 years, Marina Wheeler. After their eldest daughter was overheard telling friends he was a “selfish b*****d” and that “Mum is finished with him — she’ll never take him back now,” the couple confirmed they are to divorce.

Which, considering Boris has had at least four extra-marital affairs and made one of his mistresses pregnant, perhaps comes as little surprise.

But does the demise of his marriage also mark the end of his long-held ambition to be our next Prime Minister?

For months now, political insiders at Westminster have been claiming that Boris — aka Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson — has been planning, plotting and positioning himself to openly start the advance on Theresa May’s leadership around the time of the next Tory conference.

It starts on September 30 in Birmingham. Surely his exasperated political supporters must now be rushing back to the tactical drawing board?

For yet again, Boris’s inability to keep it in his trousers has made his personal life the story — when, as any political strategist will tell you, it’s the policies, stoopid, that should be grabbing headlines.

So at the very least, one imagines that any potential bid for the leadership will have to be postponed until the dust settles.

What’s the betting that right now Teflon Theresa is doing a particularly jubilant rendition of her Maybot dance behind closed doors?

The electorate might not give a fig about who Boris is sleeping with (more of which later).

However, be in no doubt that the timing of his latest marital transgression is lousy.

Political enemies — and plenty exist in his own party — will use it to their advantage, beating him with the stick of “duplicity, questionable morals and poor judgment” at every opportunity.

They will argue these accusations of poor character make him unfit to tell others, via government policies, how to live their lives.

It doesn’t really matter if the Great British Public agrees or not.

His enemies will now do everything in their power to thwart his chances of getting the top job and leading the party into the next general election.

A couple of days before news of his latest dalliance — and consequently divorce — broke, fellow Tory Nadine Dorries supported 54-year-old Boris for PM, talking up his “proven track record” and “rock star” personality.

Some might say that his political track record is as questionable as his marital one.

But his wit, towering intellect and self-deprecating manner certainly endear him to the masses.

My 14-year-old daughter and her friends think he’s “sick”. An octogenarian relative finds him charming. So he clearly resonates with voters of all ages and persuasions.

Remember 14,000 people chanting “Boris, Boris” at the 2012 London Olympics?

Such wide-reaching popularity means he would undoubtedly win I’m A Celebrity. But is it enough to cross the finishing line when it comes to the tough job of actually running the country?

His detractors call him frustratingly disorganised and indecisive.

Perhaps that’s borne out by the knowledge that in eight years as motoring correspondent of GQ, he racked up around £5,000-worth of parking tickets and fines on test cars. Yet as his ex-PA Ann Sindall puts it: “We can all hate his guts, we want to kill him, but then he can get us laughing again.”

Charismatic company for lunch or dinner maybe. But a serious enough figure to lead a post-Brexit UK on the world stage?

Not if a hastily commissioned poll of Tory voters by market research agency Survation is anything to go by.

For while 64 per cent of 1,039 questioned said his imminent divorce did not make him unfit to be Prime Minister, 37 per cent still thought Theresa May would make the best PM, compared to 31 per cent for Boris.

In addition, 30 per cent said they would be less likely to vote Conservative if he was leader. Survation chief executive Damian Lyons Lowe said: “Despite the Prime Minister’s poor favourability ratings and the public’s clear view that Brexit negotiations are going badly, Boris Johnson, on the evidence, would not appear to be the candidate to improve the fortunes of the Conservative Party.”

Perhaps the deeply ambitious MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip will take comfort from the fact that, historically, plenty of poll predictions have proved to be way off the mark — not least the ones that declared Neil Kinnock was heading for No10.

Boris may also choose to be heartened by the election success of a certain Donald John Trump who, similarly, seared himself into the public consciousness via a number of high-octane radio and TV appearances prior to standing for President.

Trump was known for having a colourful marital history thanks in no small part to his wandering eye and penchant for busty blondes.

Yet his fans seemingly factored that in and voted for him anyway. But Trump also has the characteristics that many associate with leadership. He is bullish, unafraid of confrontation and decisive.

Boris, it seems, is not cut from the same cloth.

Journalist Petronella Wyatt, with whom he had a four-year affair, says: “Boris never sets out to lie.

“It’s just that he will do anything to avoid an argument, which leads to a degree of duplicity.” She says he is fundamentally a loner, adding: “Like many loners, he has a compensating need to be liked.

“There is an element of Boris that wants to be Prime Minister because the love of his family and Tory voters is not enough. He wants to be loved by the entire world.”

Whether he gets his wish remains to be seen.