London Mayor Boris Johnson had Tory activists chuckling in their seats after mocking Twickenham MP Vince Cable on the first night of the Conservative Party conference.

Mr Johnson referred to Dr Cable as “the sage of Twickenham” and joked a planned new cable car has been named in honour of the Business Secretary, who has repeatedly criticised the excess of the City.

Addressing the audience at the conference in Birmingham, the Conservative Mayor said: "It's proposed to have a cable car running from the O2 all the way across to the Excel, and I think it's a fantastic scheme.

"I've already mentioned the sage of Twickenham and, there we go, we've named this fantastic project in honour of Vince Cable so that he can be conveyed over the river and back, where he can look at the towers of the City and Canary Wharf and meditate on their importance in our national economy."

Dr Cable recently caused upset when he attacked the “spivs and gamblers” of the City, who he claimed are more of a danger to the economy that militant union leaders.