Jeremy Corbyn is not "not wholly wrong" in his analysis of the what is wrong with Britain, Boris Johnson has said.
However the Tory London mayor and MP said if Labour had "any sense" then it would pick "one of the female candidates" - Yvette Cooper or Liz Kendall.
On Monday, Corbyn said the leadership contest, in which he is the surprise frontrunner, was the "most exciting" time of his life.
Asked about the surge in support for the leftwing Labour MP, Boris said today: “I think the Corbomania is a very interesting political phenomenon and, actually, one-nation Tories should pay attention to it. Some of the things he’s talking about, some of the analysis, is not wholly wrong. Yes there’s a problem with inequality, yes there’s a problem with low pay."
Boris told BuzzFeed that while he thought Corbyn's solutions were "completely wrong" it would "very complacent and wrong to ignore the truth of some of the observations he is making about ways in which society should be better".
He added: "We should be humble about that. Also I think he probably is getting points for saying what he thinks.”
Boris is not the only Tory to praise Corbyn. Earlier this week former cabinet minister Ken Clarke told The Huffington Post it would be a mistake for the Tories to underestimate the leftwinger.
"It’s not certain he will lose an election. Michael Foot, who stood on a much more left wing platform in 1983, was miles ahead before the election," he said.
“If you have another recession or if the Conservative Government becomes very unpopular, he could win. In difficult times the party with the duty of government can become unpopular. He will be difficult to campaign against."
Boris was speaking at the Speaking at the Centre for Social Justice think-tank in London. The Uxbridge MP revealed he had recently been schooled on Roman history by an 11-year-old boy.
He said he had told the schoolboy that the Roman Empire had converted to Christianity in 313 AD. After a disagreement the boy proved it was actually 312AD.