Insane clown? Born in New York, educated at Eton and Oxford, and schooled in the rough-and-tumble world of British media and politics, London Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is not your standard politician, to say the least. But is there more to the man than caricature? “Beneath the carefully constructed veneer of a blithering buffoon,” the mop-headed Johnson once joked, “there lurks a blithering buffoon.”

Renaissance man: As a conservative member of Parliament, a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph, and the editor of Britain’s feisty conservative weekly, The Spectator, Johnson railed against bureaucracy and political correctness, using his rapier wit to ridicule the ruling Labour Party. His journalism career did not begin so well, however: He was fired from his first reporting job at The Times for falsifying a quote.

Foot-in-mouth disease: Johnson is famous for political gaffes, such as the time his magazine published an article lambasting the city of Liverpool for being “hooked on grief” after the murder in Iraq of hostage Kenneth Bigley. Above, Johnson begs Liverpudlians for forgiveness in what he later called “Operation Scouse Grovel” on Oct. 20, 2004. In 2006, he apologized to Papua New Guineans for writing that their country was best known for “cannibalism and chief-killing.”

Playboy: Johnson is not known as a party animal, though he has admitted to past drug use. “I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose. In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar,” he once told the BBC television program Have I Got News for You. Above, Johnson attends a book-launch party for Viz, a raunchy adult comic magazine, on Oct. 27, 2004.

Foul play: A huge sports fan, though perhaps more suited for rugby than football, Johnson cringes after fouling a German player during the Legends match between England and Germany on May 3, 2006.

Caesar the day: Before becoming mayor, Johnson served as the Tory Party’s “shadow education secretary.” Above, he lobbies for a classical curriculum by speaking in Latin outside the Houses of Parliament on May 14, 2007.

Back Boris: The Conservative Party announced Johnson as its candidate for mayor on Sept. 27, 2007. He ran under the official slogan, “Back Boris for a greater London,” though he has also been quoted as saying in past Tory campaigns, “If you vote for the Conservatives, your wife will get bigger breasts, and your chances of driving a BMW M3 will increase.”

Leap of faith: The great-grandson of a late Ottoman interior minister, Johnson often boasts of his Muslim descent. Above, the candidate dresses in a shawl for a visit to the Husseini Mosque in Northolt, London, on April 4.

Long shot: Dismissed as a lightweight during the campaign, Johnson surprised many by narrowly defeating Labour Party incumbent Ken Livingstone to win the election. Above, Johnson prepares a shot during a visit to a London high school on April 29.

Boob tube: Johnson’s first major act as mayor was to ban alcohol on the London transportation system. Thousands of subway riders responded with wild, drunken parties on May 31, the last night before the ban took effect.

Making a racket: Johnson shakes hands with Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 3 tennis player, before a friendly volley on July 18. “We need to look at our nannying, mollycoddled, politically correct culture in my view, which stops kids from going out and playing competitive sport,” said Johnson, who was promoting children’s sports for the 2012 London Olympics.

The people’s mayor: Johnson wears a pink Stetson hat during London’s gay pride parade on July 5.

Biker in chief: Johnson does a lap around the track of a new cycling center in Redbridge, London, on Aug. 19. Johnson is an avid proponent of cycling, though his own bicycle has been stolen in the past, leading him to call for “sharia law for bicycle thieves” in March 2007.

Model citizen: Johnson peers into a model of the National Aquatic Center in Beijing on Aug. 24. The London mayor made waves in China when he said, “Had it been us staging the games I don’t think we would have done the switcheroo of the girl with braces,” referring to the controversy over the 9-year-old girl who lip-synched at the opening ceremonies because she had better-looking teeth than the real singer.

Taking the torch: Assuming the reins from Beijing as the next Olympic host, Johnson couldn’t help himself. “Ping-Pong was invented on the dining tables of England and it was called whiff whaff,” he said at a party after the closing ceremonies. “Other nations such as the French looked at the dining table and saw the opportunity to have dinner. We looked at the dining table and saw an opportunity to play whiff whaff.” Let the games begin!