This is not political axe grinding. I have never voted Tory in my life but I have always liked Boris both as Mayor of London during the 2012 Olympics and latterly the raffish resident of Number 10 Downing Street.

Yes, he may have messed up over "partygate", showed a lack of judgement in some of his appointments and told a few porkies but overall his achievements outweighs his aberrations, which can’t be said for many politicians including some of those now jostling gracelessly to take his place.

Despite coming close to death as an early victim of COVID-19, he recovered to push Britain to the forefront of a life saving vaccination programme, fulfilled the democratic will of the people and got Brexit done and led Europe’s support of Ukraine in their bloody war with Russia.

Back home his reputation may have been tarnished but to most of the world he is admired and respected. Surely this is not the time to change Prime Ministers.

Moreover his untimely exit is sad news for sport. He may not appear to have a sporty persona but he has amply demonstrated both affection and support for the games we play. He is known to value the impact of sport on society and the economy.

His first move when he became a London Mayor in 2004 was to appoint one of his political rivals, the feisty former Labour Sports Minister Kate Hoey as his sports adviser. While he always had a genuine regard for sport he hardly knew anyone in the game but Kate, now Baroness Hoey, marked his card and showed him how to play it politically.

When he moved into Parliament following his second spell as Mayor he left an indelible footprint on sport without really dipping his toe into the mainstream. He had shrewdly concentrated on schools and youth sport. 

When we first met it was at his school's swimming gala at Dulwich in south London. On his arrival you would have thought the 300 kids were welcoming Becks, not Boris, such was the clamour. "I once swam in a school competition and I was so slow that my teacher told me never to do it again," he told them.

In his time he has been a bit of a player himself (on and off the field). He told me some years ago that he once challenged Lord Sebastian Coe to a race down Fifth Avenue in New York. "I didn’t win," he admitted. "He’s rather fast you know." He added: "I love any kind of physical exertion. It’s made me what I am."

At Oxford he played rugby as a tighthead prop for his college, Balliol and jogs and cycles most as we have often seen, he is a dab hand at table tennis which he insists on calling by its archaic name of "whiff whaff."

He has said: "I love sport but the fact is I’m no bloody good at it. Anyone who has seen that video clip of me playing for the Parliamentary team in a charity match will know that I am not God’s gift to football. 

"But I think sport is incredibly good for building self-confidence, teamwork, competitive spirit and the ability to cope with failure. All that stuff. I was always conscious of the part sport might play in my life."

We chatted about boxing but when I asked him to name his favourite fighters he laughed. "I don’t know any of them. I just love watching them biff each other."

My abiding memory of "Bojo" is of working late at night in a darkened, empty Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.

Earlier Boris had received the Olympic flag from the hosts and a few hours later crouching at the start of the 100 metres he then sprinted down the track still boot and suited, his open jacket flapping behind him.

He gave a loud "whoop!" as he crossed the finish line. "I always wanted to do that," he was to say later.

My mind goes back to that evening in Dulwich and my first interview with him. He was in a bit of a rush after presenting the trophies to the young swimmers and suggested we continue our chat on the train back to Central London. 

So I had to jog along with him down the hill to the station where he jumped into a first-class carriage and invited me to join him. As we approached Victoria, I suddenly realised that I had not got a ticket. "Don’t worry old boy," he guffawed. "Neither have I."

Detractors argue that Boris is just a charismatic clown but I agree with the recent newspaper poll which suggests that more than three-quarters of voters say they will miss him now that he is back on his bike. 

So will I, and so will sport. Of course, Boris might bounce back…as Sports Minister, maybe!