Boris Johnson gets caught in an awkward exchange with a wheelchair user and Nick Ferrari

The Mayor of London asked Nick Ferarri why he wasn’t standing as Mayor – but many took it as him asking a wheelchair user called Nick why he wasn’t standing up

Boris Johnson was caught in an awkward exchange during the annual State of London debate where he was thought by many to have asked a wheelchair user why he was not standing up.

The confusion arose when LBC Nick Ferrari moved to a question from the audience and called out to a man called Nicholas.

The Mayor then asked: “Why aren’t you even standing then, Nick? That’s the question we all want to know,” to which Ferrari replied, “Never you mind”.

The man in the audience being called on by Ferrari to ask his question then said: “Boris, I’m in a wheelchair,” and the Mayor is heard quickly apologising.

As the audience made a collective sound of sympathy for the man, he said: “No, you don’t have to be sad,” and proceeded to ask a question about misleading advice given by TfL to wheelchair users for the Tube.

Many members took the exchange to be Boris asking the man in the wheelchair why he wasn’t standing.

But a spokesperson at City Hall said the Mayor was in fact asking Ferrari why he was not standing for Mayor, an exchange the pair frequently share on LBC, they added.