Who is Boris Johnson? Leading Brexit campaigner favorite to be Britain's prime minister

Boris Johnson, the American-born poster boy of the Leave campaign, is believed to be the next most likely resident of 10th Downing Street.

The 52-year-old politician with a disheveled blond hair used to be mistaken a lot for U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Donald Trump. Some critics believe the two politicians may be sharing more similarities than just their funny hair. Johnson is also New York-born (in posh Upper East Side) and long held an American passport until he revoked his American citizenship last year after publicly railing against the Internal Revenue Service.

The Guardian describes both politicians as sharing a common goal of rising toward their own "ascendancy."

In an interview with David Letterman four years ago, the Briton joked, "I suppose I could be president of the United States you know, technically speaking."

Before the EU Referendum, the former mayor of London described his chances of becoming Prime Minister as "about as good as the chances of finding Elvis [Presley] on Mars or my being reincarnated as an olive."

The Guardian also cited an opinion poll on Johnson's real motives for siding against long-time friend and former Eton schoolmate Prime Minister David Cameron on the Brexit issue in February, which revealed 41 percent respondents believe Johnson did so because he truly thought it was for the country's best while 39 percent believe he did it as a political move with an eye on No.10 Downing Street.

"It was his way to make his mark by standing out from the crowd," writer Sonia Purnell told The Guardian.

Purnell wrote "Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition" and believes Johnson taking on the opposite side was a political maneuver.

The favorite contender for Britain's next Prime Minister has a colorful history that includes getting fired by The Times for lying in an article, hanging on a zip line during 2012 London Olympics, and apologizing for calling Africans as "piccaninnies" and Papua New Guinea people as cannibals.

"His detractors and critics often say he is not a serious person, that his approach to politics is humorous and freewheeling and perhaps not as thought through as other people," political scientist at the London School of Economics, Tony Travers, told the Associated Press. "I'm not sure that's true. I think deep down he is a serious person, with serious objectives."