Ever since one certain flamboyant blond became London Mayor, speculation has been incessant (and, of course, regularly fuelled by the man himself) that it wouldn’t be long before a Johnson moves into No 10 Downing Street.
But few people expected that rather than Boris Johnson himself, his little-known younger brother, Jo, would get there first.
Indeed, the 41-year-old’s appointment as the head of David Cameron’s policy unit took most people in Westminster by surprise.
Cradle-reared competitiveness: From left, a young Jo Johnson on the knee of father Stanley, followed by Rachel, Leo and Boris. Their childhood was one of 'cut-throat meal-time quizzes'
Both boys attended Oxford and were members of the infamous Bullingdon club, Jo (right) in 1993 and Boris before him (left) in 1987
The promotion of the old Etonian (‘Johnson Minimus’ in the posh school’s parlance), an MP for only three years, was the idea of Chancellor George Osborne.
Apart from harnessing Jo’s strategic skills in a bid to make the Tories more popular, the move is seen as a mischievous ruse to rein in Boris, who makes no secret of the fact he wants to succeed Cameron as Tory leader.
The thinking is that if his brother is part of Team Cameron, Boris won’t want to be seen as a critic.
This is a classic piece of Osborne devilry. As a colleague says: ‘He hopes that although Jo’s presence in Downing Street will wind up Boris, it will make it more difficult for him to criticise the Government.’
As one of Cameron's so-called 'modernisers', Jo Johnson, pictured at No 10 today, will use his role in the No 10 policy unit to give the PM's image a sharper political edge
The PM and Mr Johnson met today at Downing Street, but Jo's appointment as the head of David Cameron's policy unit took most people in Westminster by surprise
But it is a huge gamble that could easily backfire – not merely for political reasons but also because of the fact that family loyalty is a double-edged sword when it comes to the Johnson clan.
For not only are they fiercely competitive with the rest of the world, they are fiercely competitive with each other. Indeed, cradle-reared competitiveness has been a hallmark of Johnson family life.
Boris Johnson, seen last night with Ruth Rogers and Josh Berger and Ed Victor at The Warner Brothers 90th Anniversary Drinks, may now find it harder to criticise a government that contains his own brother
So a great danger for Cameron and Osborne is that little Jo’s appointment will consume big brother Boris with jealousy and propel him to even more Machiavellian tactics to muscle his way in to No 10.
As Boris’s biographer Andrew Gimson says, the childhood of the two Johnson boys (and their sister Rachel and other brother Leo) was one of ‘cut-throat meal-time quizzes, fearsome ping-pong matches, height, weight and blondeness contests’.
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But equally, the family has a formidable clan loyalty – so some fear there is the risk that Jo might even help Boris achieve his once self-proclaimed ambition to be ‘world king’.
He may love playing up for the press (here busking with singer Misha B) but ever since he became London Mayor, speculation has been incessant that it won't be long before he moves into No 10 Downing Street
As one friend of Jo’s says: ‘Cameron and Osborne may think his first loyalty will be to them but they may find to their cost that it is to the Johnson clan.’
If competitiveness trumps loyalty, Jo Johnson’s appointment risks creating for the Tories their own version of the fraternal psychodrama that rocked the Labour Party when Ed Miliband beat his older and more experienced brother David to the party’s leadership.
An irritated Boris (who is now not an MP, remember) is already being ribbed that his 'little brother' got to Downing Street first
That bloody feud ended with the Milibands’ mother heartbroken that her once close family unit had been torn apart, and with David’s resignation as a MP and humiliated exodus to New York.
Indeed, many Tory MPs believe that Jo is more likely than Boris to become Prime Minister.
One backbencher says: ‘He’s is brighter than Boris, he’s nicer than Boris, he’s got less personal baggage than Boris. It could be David and Ed all over again.’
A great danger for Cameron and Osborne is that little Jo's appointment will end up propelling Boris to even more Machiavellian tactics to muscle his way in to No 10
Although politically inexperienced, Jo is undoubtedly very clever, with a first-class degree in Modern History from Oxford as well as two further degrees from European universities.
His friends love to point out that the fluent French speaker has more qualifications than Boris.
Of course, as the youngest of the Johnson clan, he had a great deal of catching up to do in the wake of Boris, now 48, journalist Rachel, 47, and entrepreneur Leo, 45.
Few can forget the the fraternal psychodrama that rocked the Labour Party when Ed Miliband (left) beat his older and more experienced brother David (right) to the party's leadership
After three lucrative years as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank, he joined the Financial Times – working in Paris and South East Asia before editing the influential finance column, Lex (a previous incumbent being Nigel Lawson).
He eventually turned to politics and was selected by the Tories to fight the seat of Orpington, which he won in 2010. His parliamentary career has been unremarkable, as he has risen from being an effective member of the Public Accounts Committee to junior whip.
Diffident to the point of shy, the only things he appears to have in common with Boris are his genes and blonde hair. No showman, he’ll never appear on TV’s Have I Got News For You or get himself stuck on a zipwire.
Ed Miliband, who was out campaigning in Worcester yesterday afternoon, is also competitive with his brother, but the ended with their mother heartbroken that her once close family unit had been torn apart
He’s sanguine about living in the shadow of his celebrity brother, who has 685,000 followers on Twitter to his own 3,500.
Although Jo, like Boris, was a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club (a drinking society known for its wanton acts of drunken vandalism, and numbering Oxford’s wealthiest undergraduates among its members), he has strong links with the Left through his marriage.
His wife is Amelia Gentleman, the Guardian’s trenchantly left-wing social affairs correspondent. Her father is the brilliant artist David Gentleman, best known for being the most prolific designer of stamps in the Post Office’s history and for his platform-length mural at the Charing Cross Tube station in London.
As the youngest of the Johnson clan, Jo (right) had a great deal of catching up to do in the wake of Boris, now 48, (left) journalist Rachel, 47 (centre), and entrepreneur Leo, 45, not pictured
Amelia (who went to St Paul’s, one of Britain’s leading private schools) and Jo have two children and a conventionally happy marriage that is the antidote to Boris’s scandal-strewn love life.
As one of Cameron’s so-called ‘modernisers’, Jo will use his role in the No 10 policy unit to give the PM’s image a sharper political edge and develop radical ideas for a government widely thought to have run out of intellectual steam.
Among his key interests are the benefits of Britain forging stronger economic and strategic links with India.
Jo, seen here with sister Rachel and father Stanley, obtained a First from Oxford, is a fluent French speaker has more qualifications than Boris
Unlike Cameron, though, he believes that the Government should cancel its controversial £250million annual aid package to the country. Such views will clearly infuriate Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems, who believe that the policy unit should serve the interests of the Coalition rather than just the Conservative Party.
The risk for both Cameron and Boris is that Jo, now inside Number 10, will develop a taste for it
Labour will undoubtedly try to exploit Jo Johnson’s links with Boris, as well as depicting him as utterly out of touch with the struggles and aspirations of ordinary voters.
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Only the eagle-eyed will have spotted Jo in embarrassing published photos of ‘The Buller’, wearing the members’ uniform of Georgian tailcoats. He is standing proudly in a group which includes a young George Osborne.
Labour will surely also highlight the fact that Cameron’s revamped policy unit team includes two more Old Etonians: Hereford MP Jesse Norman, who is also the former director of an investment bank, and bungling Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin.
For the non-partisan observer, however, the most intriguing tensions are not political but familial.
The father of the Johnson clan, Stanley, is unrepentant about having created a competitive atmosphere among the four siblings and has described Boris as ‘the great prodigious tree in the rainforest, in the shade of which the smaller trees must either perish or struggle to find their own place in the sun’.
With typical self-promotion, sister Rachel reacted to Jo’s appointment with a tweet, saying that she’s waiting for ‘her telephone call from 10 Downing Street’.
For his part, an irritated Boris (who is now not an MP, remember) is already being ribbed that his ‘little brother’ got to Downing Street first.
The risk for him is that Jo will become accustomed to being in No 10.
If David Cameron loses the next election he will surely step down as Tory leader. Any ensuing battle between Johnson Maximus and Johnson Minimus would make the act of fratricide between the Milibands seem by comparison like an exercise in brotherly love.