Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, is battling Jeremy Hunt to secure the votes of Conservative members in a party leadership contest that will determine Britain's next prime minister.

PROFILE

Personal

Johnson was born in New York to English parents, and held dual U.S.-UK citizenship until renouncing his American passport in 2016. He studied classics at Oxford University before establishing a public profile during the 1990s as a journalist and television personality.

The 55-year-old was sacked by The Times newspaper for fabricating a quotation, before writing a series of sensationalist stories as the Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent. He is now paid 275,000 British pounds a year to write a weekly column for the Telegraph. He has been married twice, has five or six children (he refuses to confirm the exact number), and is in a relationship with former Conservative PR guru Carrie Symonds.

Political

First elected as an MP in 2001, Johnson served as a shadow minister for the Conservative opposition until he was sacked in 2004 for misleading the party leader about an affair with a magazine columnist. Asked in 2003 why he swapped media for politics, the Financial Times reported he told a friend: “They don’t put up statues to journalists.”

In 2008 he was voted in as London mayor and was re-elected to the capital's top job in 2012, a role in which he contributed to the London 2012 Olympics. He returned to parliament in 2015 and was a leading figure in the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, before an aborted bid to replace David Cameron as prime minister. He was appointed as foreign secretary by Theresa May, but resigned in protest at her Brexit plan in 2018. 

Brexit plan

Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU by October 31, the current deadline, "do or die." He wants to negotiate a new agreement with Brussels, scrapping the controversial Irish backstop, and has threatened to hold on to a 39 billion British pound payment as leverage.

Brexit is Johnson's trump card in the leadership race. He made his name as a euroskeptic journalist, campaigned to leave the EU in 2016, and resigned as foreign secretary in protest at May's Brexit plan. Though some question whether these positions were more calculation than true belief, they helped make him a favorite with the pro-Brexit Conservative membership.

Read more: 

Jeremy Hunt: The underdog clawing back

Meet the voters who will pick Britain's next PM 

YouGov polling conducted on June 19-21 indicates that 83 percent of Conservative members want to leave the EU by October 31, with a renegotiated deal or without a deal. Ninety percent believe Johnson would deliver one of these two options, against just 19 percent for Hunt.  

Foreign policy

Johnson was a controversial pick to be Britain's top diplomat in 2016, and the fact his stint in the foreign office has barely featured in his campaign to be prime minister is an indication of how well it went. He called for Britain to play a bigger role in Asia, but is best remembered for his handling of the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose family argues inaccurate comments by the then foreign secretary worsened her situation.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Johnson would be a "great prime minister," and the expectation is that a Johnson-led Britain would be close to Washington. Questions have been raised over an array of controversial statements Johnson has made it the past, from calling Africans “piccaninnies” to claiming Muslim women wearing the burka "looked like letterboxes."   

Campaign promises

Johnson has made a series of spending promises on the campaign trail, including significant tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners and the recruitment of extra police officers.

He wants an overhaul of Britain's immigration system, making it more like the Australian points system which gives credit for English proficiency, and is skeptical about major infrastructure projects such as the HS2 high-speed rail line and a third runway at Heathrow airport.

Can Johnson win?

Johnson has been the odds-on favorite since the leadership race began, and despite some awkward moments on the campaign trail has retained a comprehensive polling lead. 

A YouGov poll of Conservative members conducted on July 1-5 indicated 74 percent would vote for Johnson to be the next party leader, a massive 48 points clear of rival Hunt, and a grassroots survey by ConservativeHome put him on 67 percent. 

Only 25 percent of Britons think Johnson would be a good prime minister, YouGov polling suggests, but it will be a huge surprise if he is not elected by Conservative members.

Video by Wang Kailin