BORIS Johnson's future could hang in the balance of a pending inquiry into lockdown parties at Downing Street - and if he subsequently lied to Parliament about them.

But it wouldn't be the first time lying got the Prime Minister into trouble, and even sacked. He was fired at the Times in the 1980s for making up quotes.

Johnson's critics say the PM has had a long and troubled history with the truth and point to his previous roles as a journalist (and later firing) and the infamous £350 million Brexit bus.

For a while, he was not taken seriously as a contender for PM - despite rumours he would one day vie for the job - and was compared to Donald Trump.

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But like Trump, Johnson defied the odds and was elected as PM - and with quite a mandate.

When did Boris Johnson become Prime Minister?

Brexit has seen the end of more than one Prime Minister, with David Cameron stepping down just after the 2016 referendum.

His predecessor Theresa May failed several times to deliver a Brexit deal that MPs supported. She then resigned and returned as a backbench MP.

That was in May 2019, and a Tory leader race kicked off soon after.

Johnson came out on top, beating Sajid Javid, Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt to gain 66% of the party votes.

Later, Johnson tabled a motion for a General Election for December 2019 and won a landslide majority of 80 seats with 43.6% of the vote - the highest percentage for any party since 1979.

What were the reasons for Boris Johnson's victory?

While it can be hard to pinpoint specific reasons for an entire general election win, where voters pick an MP as opposed to a party leader, there were some important things to consider.

Johnson was seen as appealing to Brexit voters, taking a hard Brexit stance during his leadership campaign - and during the referendum.

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He was heavily criticised for touting the debunked idea that the UK sends £350m to the EU every week. Money, he said could be funding the NHS.

He also enjoyed popularity in England - although this cannot be said for Scotland - which was contrasted to the unpopular Labour leader of the time Jeremy Corbyn.

Ultimately, Johnson promised to deliver Brexit, which had been causing turmoil since its vote in 2016, and voters bought it.