BIRMINGHAM – Boris Johnson stumbled into the Conservative party conference on Monday evening and delivered a pitch to party activists on how to take on the threat from UKIP. Annoyingly – at least for fans of the Mayor of London's troublemaking – he was ultra-loyal to David Cameron. The most dramatic moment was when he held up a toy doll of himself.
It was a different feel to 2012 when the Mayor of London entered the same venue to the 'Mission Impossible' theme tune and gave a joke-heavy speech to a overflowing crowd of acolytes.
Two years ago, when the Conservative party conference was also held in the same Birmingham conference centre as this year, Johnson caused chaos wherever he went, overshadowing the prime minister and was worshipped as the leader-in-waiting after the Olympics.
But on Monday, as he prepares to return to the House of Commons at the general election, Johnson was more circumspect and in turn the crowd was much thinner. He went on about economic policy and Britain's place in the EU rather than making a transparent challenge to the David Cameron.
Johnson still received a standing ovation before he even walked into the venue.
Despite some half-decent jokes Boris seems to be going more boring in a bid to be taken seriously. There were some references about defections from UKIP, bemoaning how "Ed Miliband has never asked me to join Labour" and saying "no secret talks with the Clegger".
And Johnson said he had met the UKIP leader about defecting, albeit some time ago: "I did meet Nigel Farage in a pub about twenty years ago. As is traditional in such cases he pushed across the caviar and the vodka that Moscow Central always use when they're trying to woo a potential defector. But I said 'No, Nigel, you join us.' And I repeat that message today."
But, aside from a bizarre riff on UKIP supporters being the sort of people who sexually abuse vacuum cleaners, Johnson trotted out standard-issue Conservative attack lines about Ed Miliband being an "unreformed semi-Marxist" whose plans to put a levy on houses worth over £2 million would be a "new tax on family homes".
The new Boris is on-message and ready for a return to parliament, even if that means fewer laughs.