Boris Johnson will be Britain's Prime Minister by sunset tomorrow after winning the Tory leadership race by a landslide with two-thirds of the vote.
The millionaire who wanted to be "world king" aged five has finally achieved his lifelong goal with victory in the right-wing Conservative Party.
The runaway frontrunner, 55, beat rival Jeremy Hunt by 92,154 votes to 46,656, Tory chiefs announced today. 87.4% of the 159,320 members voted - but 509 spoilt their ballots.
Despite the Old Etonian will visit the Queen to take office as Prime Minister tomorrow afternoon - moments after Theresa May gives Her Majesty her resignation.
But he faces Cabinet resignations within hours - including Philip Hammond, Rory Stewart and David Gauke - as his threat of a No Deal Brexit tears apart his party.
Skills minister Anne Milton quit minutes before the winner was announced saying she had "grave concerns" about a No Deal Brexit .
And he triggered a furious backlash from Labour as he prepares to stuff Downing Street and the Cabinet with loyal Brexiteers - without calling a general election.
Jeremy Corbyn declared: "Boris Johnson has won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members by promising tax cuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers' friend, and pushing for a damaging No Deal Brexit."
But Boris Johnson did win the approval of Donald Trump - days after failing to challenge his attack on Britain's now-resigned Ambassador to Washington.
The US President tweeted: "Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!"
Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!
In a rambling, shambolic victory speech, shameless Mr Johnson praised Theresa May - who he helped topple - for her "extraordinary service to our party and this country".
And he heaped praise on his vanquished rival Jeremy Hunt, branding him "a font of excellent ideas, all of which I intend to steal forthwith."
Mr Johnson admitted: "I know that there will be people around the place who will question the wisdom of your decision."
But he said it was now time to "deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn”.
He admitted "deliver, unite, defeat" spelt the word "dud" before adding: "They forgot the final E my friends.
“I say to the doubters, dude! We are going to energise the country! We are going to get Brexit done."
Mr Johnson was crowned today at a grand ceremony in Westminster watched by dad Stanley and his siblings Rachel, a journalist, and Jo, a government minister.
But there was no sign of new girlfriend Carrie Symonds, who is
His personal life now faces a huge spotlight - with journalists not even knowing how many children he has - after the pair were caught having a massive row at the 31-year-old's south London home.
His election after weeks of vicious blue-on-blue conflict sparks a mad scramble to fulfil his "do or die" promise to leave the EU on October 31.
Critics say - including the Irish backstop - is impossible to achieve before Halloween .
So as well as entering talks with the EU, he is planning to ramp up No Deal planning within days of taking power.
Tory MPs including resigning Cabinet ministers are set to form an 'awkward squad' to block the new Prime Minister ramming through No Deal against the will of Parliament.
Tory MP Charles Walker begged members: "Can we be kinder to the next prime minister than we’ve been to the current prime minister?"
But Skills minister Anne Milton, who quit this morning, said: "I have grave concerns about leaving the EU without a deal. It is important for me to be free to do what I feel is right for the country and my constituents."
Amid huge protests Mr Johnson has refused to rule out suspending Parliament - 'proroguing' - to ensure a No Deal Brexit becomes the legal default.
But he could have his hand forced by MPs - including in a no confidence vote which could trigger a general election within months.
Mr Johnson will inherit a working majority of just two MPs which could then drop to one if the Lib Dems win next week's Brecon and Radnorshire by-election.
Former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon claimed Mr Johnson's optimism and fresh mandate would help shift Brussels towards a deal that MPs can approve.
But former Tory leader William Hague warned that this approach was "a fantasy" that would could be a "mortal threat" to his premiership.
And MEP Philippe Lamberts, a member of the European Parliament's Brexit steering group, claimed the new British PM "will be confronting the exact same situation as Theresa May" with the EU refusing to budge.
Development Secretary Rory Stewart, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Chancellor Philip Hammond were all expected to quit Cabinet within 24 hours of the result.
They were due to be replaced with Johnson loyalists in a Cabinet reshuffle, with Matt Hancock, Priti Patel, Andrea Leadsom, Liz Truss, Sajid Javid , Gavin Williamson and Iain Duncan Smith among MPs tipped for promotion.
Work and Pensions Secretrary Amber Rudd is not expected to resign - with the pro-EU minister instead imploring Mr Johnson to let her keep her position of power.
He will announce the senior members of his Cabinet shortly after addressing the nation on the steps of No10 tomorrow afternoon.
It came as Mrs May rushed out a final flurry of legacy policies today as she held her final Cabinet meeting before standing down.
They included announcing plans for a milkshake tax and a confirmed bid to ban under-16s from buying energy drinks in a Green Paper rushed out last night.
The document - which may infuriate Mr Johnson who has campaigned against the 'Nanny State' - was rushed out against the wishes of Health Secretary and Boris Johnson backer Matt Hancock.
She also swiped at Jeremy Corbyn - who she faces for the last time tomorrow at PMQs - by announcing his arch-critic John Mann will be an "independent advisor" on anti-Semitism.
Mr Johnson now faces having to choose whether to U-turn on the document - as well as launching a heap of other domestic policies.
Reports suggest he will rush to announce domestic policies to prove he is not just about Brexit.
But there are already questions over what he will achieve from
His pledge to slash Income Tax for people earning £80,000 was downgraded to an "ambition" after a backlash.
And his promise to ensure £5,000 of funding for each school pupil was blasted as a mere £50million increase across the entire country.
He also said he would “commit to doing everything I possibly can to sorting out” the issue of state pension age rises that have hit 2.6million women. But that pledge was slapped down by DWP chief Amber Rudd.
Meanwhile Mr Johnson will have to give up his enormous outside earnings - which amounted to more than £700,000 alongside his job as an MP through the year after he quit as Foreign Secretary.
They included a £275,000-a-year column in the Daily Telegraph and more than £400,000 for speeches, including £42,580 for a single speech promoting a No Deal Brexit .
This month he claimed he’d set aside “self-interest” by giving up these outside earnings when he becomes Prime Minister. He said: “It is obviously possible to make more money by not being a full time politician.”
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson has led a gilded life since he was born in Manhattan in 1964.
He had Turkish descent but lived an international childhood, relocating several times across the Atlantic to support his ambitious father Stanley's career.
He attended Eton College where he was a member of the riotous elitist dining society, the Bullingdon Club, with future Prime Minister and later his rival David Cameron, and led the Oxford Union by expressing an all-things-to-all-people approach to politics.
In 1988 the Times sacked him for fabricating a quote - a fate that would be repeated 16 years later when he was sacked for lying to Tory leadership aides about an affair.
He was caught on tape discussing a pal's plan to have a journalist beaten up and accused of fabricating and exaggerating stories about the EU when he was the Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent.
But his many scandals did not stop the Tory's rise to power. He became MP for the safe seat of Henley in 2001 and a shadow minister before leapfrogging to become London mayor in 2008.
There, during eight years that spanned the 2012 Olympics, he used the office of mayor to massively increase his own power and standing.
When he returned as an MP for Uxbridge in the 2015 election he quickly asserted his final steps in the path to power. He backed the Vote Leave campaign in the EU referendum - betraying his pro-EU views and pal David Cameron - before quitting as Foreign Secretary in protest at Theresa May's Brexit plan.
But the happiness may not last forever. He has a majority of just 5,034 - and Labour campaigners are determined to make him the first modern PM to lose his seat.
