London -
Prime Minister David Cameron and London mayor Boris Johnson took time out from the campaign trail on Monday to help a woman who had fallen sick by the roadside.
Popular mayor Johnson is widely believed to covet the job of his old schoolmate Cameron, but the pair joined forces to look after the woman, who had apparently fallen ill on a street in Harrow, north-west London.
According to witnesses, Cameron held the woman's hand while waiting for an ambulance.
BBC reporter Chris Mason said ambulance staff reportedly “looked like they had swallowed a very large fly” when they arrived to find the prime minister and mayor.
The political heavyweights comforted the woman, who was conscious at the time, for around two minutes before experts arrived.
“The prime minister and Boris Johnson had pulled over when they noticed a woman collapsed on the street,” a paramedic told the BBC.
“When I arrived a few minutes later, I found the PM holding the woman's hand. I took over caring for the patient and they left a few minutes later.”
The woman was later said to be recovering in hospital.
Cameron and Johnson were on the road as part of campaigning ahead of this month's European elections, and more importantly, next year's general election.
They received a boost on Monday when a poll gave them a lead over their Labour rivals for the first time in two years. - Sapa-AFP