BORIS Johnson this week said a heartfelt farewell to the people of Henley and thanked them for giving him the ‘seven happiest and most productive years of my professional life’.

In an emotional yet humorous open letter to his constituents that is full of the inimitable, self-effacing ‘Boris style’ that has endeared him to the town, the new Mayor of London says it will be a ‘huge wrench’ to say goodbye to Henley.

He acknowledges that he ran the risk of winning the mayoral seat but at the same time losing Henley — the ‘loveliest seat in the Commons’.

But ultimately, he now says it is time for Henley — a place with the ‘nicest and kindest constituents’ — to ‘find itself a new MP’.

And as Mr. Johnson was taking his leave of the town, those whose lives he has touched during his time as their MP paid tribute to him.

Mr. Johnson threw his weight behind the Standard’s successful campaign to help Dennis Devier, the 85-year-old Henley resident who needed urgent treatment for going blind.

He is suffering from wet macular degeneration and had spent around £10,000 on treatment. In Berkshire the treatment was free but because Mr. Devier lived in Oxfordshire he had to pay. Eventually, the Oxford Primary Care Trust caved in and Mr. Devier now gets his treatment free.

Said Mr. Devier: “Boris certainly helped us in our campaign. He wrote an excellent column in the newspaper, called me personally and I am sure it all helped. He was a good MP and we will miss him in Henley. But we wish him every success as London’s mayor.”

Peter Sutherland, president of the Henley branch of South Oxfordshire Conservative Association, and Upper Thames Rowing Club, of which Mr. Johnson is a patron, said he had written to Boris to congratulate him.

But he had jokingly added that they could forgive him for leaving Henley only if he attended the club’s pre-Regatta strawberry picnic this year as he usually did with his family.

“But we seriously do congratulate Boris on his achievement and wish him well in London. However, we are sorry to lose him in Henley,” said Mr. Sutherland.

In his many years as president he had served seven members of Parliament, due to various boundary changes and believed that ‘Boris was the best of all of them’.

He said Mr. Johnson was a great listener, and if he did not know something, he would not be afraid to ask. Boris had tremendous energy and drive, he said.

“He has a great sense of humour and there is nothing wrong with that,” added Mr. Sutherland. “I am sure he will surprise everyone and do a great job as Mayor of London.”

Mr. Johnson also joined in the campaign to save Checkendon Post Office from closure as part of his wider concern for the future of South Oxfordshire sub-post offices.

David Horton, the resident who organised the campaign to save Checkendon Post Office, said: “He will be greatly missed. Boris is a people’s man and a very clear-thinking man. He was not afraid to get involved.

“With regard to the post office, I raised the fears that we were for the chop. David Nimmo-Smith (Henley town councillor) got in touch with Boris and he said he would be delighted to come down and support us.

“I saw him in a car park in Henley not so long ago and he said hello and that it was great news about the post office being saved. That was typical of him. He has always had time for people.”

The campaign to save Townlands Hospital was also close to Mr. Johnson’s heart.

With representatives of the Townlands Action Group, he delivered a 10,000-signature petition to Downing Street along with a montage of photographs showing the 4,000-strong crowd that turned out for a protest march in the town in October 2005.

The mayor of Henley, Cllr. Terry Buckett, however, while wishing Mr. Johnson well said that as soon as he had declared his intention to stand as the Conservative candidate, ‘he should have done the decent thing and resigned’.

Cllr. Buckett added: “It was clear that becoming mayor of London was his goal rather than working for the people he was elected to represent.” His resignation as MP, he said, would have been ‘fairer to the town and the constituency as a whole’.

By now, said Cllr. Buckett, the matter could have been done and dusted and a new MP would have been in place.