But in his column for the Daily Telegraph, former Foreign Secretary and MP for Hillingdon made a late plea not to let the current Brexit crisis cloud their judgement about the Conservative Party.
He admitted he has so far heard some “pretty frank opinions about the state of politics” during his campaign.
But Boris Johnson wrote: “This may be too optimistic, and I may be proved wrong – but I am starting to think that people can make a crucial distinction at this election on May 2.
“Whatever they may think about what is going on at Westminster – and our current dismal failure to leave the EU – they can see that there is no point in taking out their frustrations on effective and hard-working Tory councillors.
“Ask any MP about the really tough problems they get in their surgeries – the truly heart-breaking frustrations of our constituents. Nine times out of 10 it is about some aspect of their immediate domestic circumstances.
“It’s not Brexit that moves them to tears (or not that often); it’s much more likely to be a problem related to housing, and the answer almost invariably lies with the council.
He added: “So much depends on the efficiency and responsiveness and capacity of those councillors. They can make all the difference, for many families, between misery and contentment.
“That is why it matters so much who we elect on Thursday – and that is why I hope that people will vote for the councils that deliver the best services for the best value; and that means the Conservatives.”
Mr Johnson tried to use his own local council of Hillingdon as a “textbook example of One Nation Conservatism in action”.
He said they have an “exceptional record of delivery” particularly in building homes and schools, while they also have more “green flag” awards for their parts than any other borough in the UK.
In addition, the former Foreign Secretary said his council has been opening new libraries and bowling greens, and providing pensioners with free burglar alarms, while council tax has been frozen “year after year”.
Mr Johnson claimed this has been achieved because they have “applied a sensible cost-sensitive Conservative approach, and that approach is echoed, broadly speaking, by Tory councils across the country”.
In a dig at the party’s rivals, he claimed on average, Conservative councils “have managed their finances better”, and charge £100 less in council tax for a band D household.
Launching a blistering attack on Labour, Mr Johnson continued: “We have many superb and public-spirited people working in Local Government, and we should trust them now with more responsibility – and accountability – for the vast budgets that they spend.
“No one wants to go back to the obscene profligacy of the Labour councils of the Eighties, which relentlessly jacked up taxes on business and ratepayers.
“No one wants to bring back the likes of Derek Hatton – no one, that is, except Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which recently readmitted Hatton to membership.
“We must make absolutely sure that councils can never behave like that again, and that we protect both businesses and council tax payers from that kind of depredation.
“But it is also true that in bringing the loony Left under control, the Conservative Government of the Eighties went too far in centralising power in this country.”
In one final plea, Mr Johnson wrote: “If you give local politicians the right powers and incentives they will go for the policies that promote growth, and more housing; and voters would reward the party that delivered the best results with the minimum tax take.
“Nine times out of ten that would be the Conservatives.”
