It was a typical day in the life of Boris Johnson. Within minutes of telling me he would never ditch his eccentric image, he sparked yet another storm after apparently denouncing Jamie Oliver's healthy eating crusade.

Even for the Henley MP it was impeccable timing.

Watch the video.

This Tory party conference in Bournemouth was supposed to be about his leader David Cameron, but 'Olivergate' overshadowed the major speech by his county colleague.

In his attempts to extricate himself from the furore, he hailed Mr Oliver as "the messiah" for his campaign for healthy school meals.

And last night he reiterated - in a speech to students in Bournemouth which you can view on video by clicking the link below - his solidarity with the pioneering TV chef.

Tuesday had started so quietly. He had spoken to the Mail but already the storm clouds were gathering over his alleged comments that there was too much pressure on children to take healthy food to school.

He defended his jokey image, saying it helped get out his political message to voters and being an entertainer was "the only way I can be".

Mr Johnson - who just weeks ago had to apologise to Papua New Guinea over a cannibalism slur - said: "If you can make a political point at the same time as making people laugh you will be accomplishing something quite useful. I do believe humour is an important tool. People are very bored, very apathetic, they need things to get engaged."

Asked if he was happy being considered an entertainer, he said: "It's the only way I can be. Any attempt to change would be a waste of time. I've got to do it the way I want to do it."

Mr Johnson, the Tories' higher education spokesman, said he was "passionate" about universities and thrilled to be doing his job, which absorbed "an awful lot of energy and time".

Mr Johnson claimed he had only read parts of a new unauthorised biograpy, The Rise of Boris Johnson, by Daily Telegraph journalist Andrew Gimson.

Gimson, who claimed Mr Johnson offered to pay him £100,000 not to write the book, described the Henley MP as "both serious and very funny".

Gimson's prediction Mr Johnson could one day become Prime Minister was played down by the MP.

Mr Johnson said: "I think he's going to be disappointed. Alas, I'm going to fail him in the task he's set me, but I'm going to do my best for Henley and the rest of the country."

Yesterday he took to the stage at the Conservative conference. Taking part in a debate on the proposition "Jamie Oliver is a national hero", he said: "I may have accidentally made a glancing reference to the important of eating pies, but I'm very much in support of Jamie Oliver."

The MP explained he had been trying to argue that unless junk food was removed from schools it might be hard to persuade children to choose the healthy option.

He admitted he was "not a very good cook at all" and said: "I'm speaking as someone who is 17 stone plus. I am fat. According to some doctors I'm clinically obese. But you can get in terrible trouble if you say 'fatso'."

And with that you're almost expecting the next barrage of complaints.