Boris Johnson's journey to the top job in British politics has been, as one biographer memorably coined it, a "tale of blond ambition".

A prominent figure in Conservative politics since his days as a journalist, Johnson has scaled what he once characteristically dubbed "this cursus honorum, this ladder of things" in order to become Prime Minister.

After stints in the shadow cabinet, the London mayor's office and, most recently, the Foreign Office - and after his failed bid to become PM in 2016 - he finally will take the keys to No 10 on Wednesday.

He swept rival Jeremy Hunt aside in a landslide victory to take the Tory leadership - but what else do we know about Boris Johnson?

Full name: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson

Age: 55

Education: He is the 20th Old Etonian Prime Minister, educated as a boy at the elite boarding school Eton College, near Windsor. He then took the tried-and-tested route from Eton into Oxford University, winning a scholarship to read Classics.

Pre-politics: After leaving university, Johnson worked as a journalist. He first reported for The Times, but he was fired for inventing a quote. He then moved to The Daily Telegraph, initially as a leader-writer then as a Brussels correspondent, writing stories with a strong Eurosceptic bent. His work became popular in Tory circles, with Margaret Thatcher reportedly describing him as one of her favourite journalists. He then became a columnist, and edited The Spectator magazine.

Early political career: Boris Johnson became MP for Henley in 2001. He was promoted to Tory vice-chairman and shadow arts minister under Michael Howard in 2003 but was sacked after publicly lying about having an affair.

London mayoralty: Johnson defeated incumbent Labour mayor Ken Livingstone in 2008 on a platform of reducing youth crime and improving public transport. He won again over Livingstone in 2012, presiding over the Olympic Games that year in the capital.

Leave campaign: After returning to the Commons to represent Uxbridge and South Ruislip in 2015, he endorsed the Vote Leave campaign early the following year. After the Brexit result, he stood to replace David Cameron as PM, initially with Vote Leave ally Michael Gove's support - until Gove infamously knifed him in order to stand himself, after which Johnson ended his leadership bid.

Foreign Office: New Prime Minister Theresa May took the surprising decision to make Johnson the foreign secretary in 2016. He became embroiled in controversy at the end of that year after telling MPs that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe - a British-Iranian dual citizen imprisoned in Iran - had been there training journalists, contradicting her story to Iranian authorities she had been there simply to visit family. In 2018, he resigned in protest against Theresa May's Brexit strategy.

What he's said on Scotland: "Devolution is causing all the strains that its opponents predicted, and in allowing the Scots to make their own laws, while free-riding on English taxpayers, it is simply unjust." - Telegraph column, 2001

"A pound spent in Croydon is far more of value to the country from a strict utilitarian calculus than a pound spent in Strathclyde. Indeed, you will generate jobs in Strathclyde far more effectively if you invest in parts of London." - Interview while running to be re-elected London mayor, 2012

"I think the Barnett formula must stay. We must support our precious union, support it financially... I see absolutely no case for having a second referendum in Scotland. I think it's absurd." - Tory leadership hustings in Perth, 2019

What he's said on Brexit: "We are getting ready to come out on October 31. Come what may... do or die." - TalkRadio interview, 2019

"After three years and two missed deadlines, we must leave the EU on October 31." - Leadership campaign launch, 2019

"I make a confident prediction that whatever happens on November 1 after we've come out the planes will fly, there will be clean drinking water, and there will be whey for our Mars bars because where there's a will there's a way." - Tory leadership hustings in London, 2019

On business: "I was just about the only politician who (as London mayor) was willing to stick up for financial services... we are willing to encourage the tech wizards and the shopkeepers and the taxi drivers and, yes, the bankers as well." - Leadership campaign launch, 2019

On domestic policy: "What I want to do now for the whole country is what we did in London." - Leadership campaign launch, 2019

On Vladimir Putin: "Despite looking a bit like Dobby the house elf, he is a ruthless and manipulative tyrant." - Telegraph column, 2015

On Donald Trump: "When Donald Trump says there are parts of London that are 'no go' areas, I think he's betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of President of the United States." - Interview, 2015

"Actually he has many, many good qualities. This is a guy who, when all is said and done, has got the US economy motoring along at about 3.6% growth... I know that not everybody agrees with everything Donald Trump says or does but on that he is having results, and we should pay tribute to that." - Tory leadership hustings in Carlisle, 2019

Controversial statements... on Muslims: "It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letterboxes... If a female student turned up at school or at a university lecture looking like a bank robber then ditto." - Telegraph column, 2018

... on black people: "What a relief it must be for (Tony) Blair to get out of England. It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies." - Telegraph column, 2002

On his controversial statements: "If sometimes... I use phrases and language which have caused offence I, of course, am sorry for the offence I have caused. But I will continue to speak as directly as I can because that is what I think the British public want." - Leadership campaign launch, 2019