Boris Johnson's love-hate relationship with Brussels over half a century as Prime Minister prepares for crunch EU summit

Charles Grant, a fellow member of the Brussels press pack who now runs the Centre for European Reform, tells i that Mr Johnson was considered more a figure of fun than a threat to the European establishment. “He was cheerful and he was funny,” Mr Grant says. “People thought he was pretending to be eurosceptic because of his career. Nobody thought he was going to become prime minister! His prime purpose was to entertain - and to get on the front page of the Telegraph.”