BORIS Johnson used his final speech as Prime Minister to try and cement his legacy, insisting that his three years and 44 days in No 10 had “laid foundations that will stand the test of time”.

Speaking on the doorstep of Downing Street, the ousted Tory leader told family, prominent supporters and officials: “I am like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function, and I will now be gently reentering the atmosphere and splashing down invisible in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.”

There was some bitterness in the speech too, with a jibe from the Prime Minister about the handover being a “relay race” where the rules had changed. 

However, he urged his party to “get behind Liz Truss and her team.”

“This is a tough time for the economy. This is a tough time for families up and down the country.

“We can and we will get through it, and we will come out stronger the other side.

“But I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks.

“It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her programme, and deliver for the people of this country.

"Because that is what the people of this country want. That’s what they need. And that’s what they deserve.”

Mr Johnson said if his dog Dilyn and Larry the No 10 cat can “put behind them their occasional difficulties”, then so can the Tory party.

“Together, we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time," he told the assembled crowd, "Whether by taking back control of our laws or putting in vital new infrastructure, great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together, paving the path of prosperity now and for future generations.

“I will be supporting Liz Truss and the new government every step of the way.”

It was the second time in as many months that Mr Johson has made a farewell speech from outside No 10. He said much the same on July 7 when he eventually gave in to the inevitable and accepted his government had collapsed around him. 

In this morning’s speech, the Prime Minister tried to move his legacy away from Partygate and being fined by police and appointing Chris Pincher to a senior role in government despite allegations of sexual misconduct. 

“Through that lacquered black door, a new prime minister will shortly go to meet a fantastic group of public servants,” he said.

“The people who got Brexit done. The people who delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, and never forget 70 per cent of the entire population got a dose within six months – faster than any comparable country.

"That is government for you. That’s this Conservative government.”

He said the “early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian Armed Forces” may “very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war of 80 years”.

He praised his government for getting “this economy moving again from July last year despite all the opposition”, saying it meant that “we have and will continue to have that economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war”.

Mr Johnson also said: “I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis and this country will endure it.

“And if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people, then he is utterly deluded.”

There was criticism too of the SNP. Mr Johnson, who styled himself for the union, said the UK was “so strong that those who want to break it up will keep trying, but they will never, ever succeed.”

Mr Johnson's final act as Prime Minister will be to come to Scotland. He is heading to Balmoral where he will meet the Queen and tender his resignation. 

It is not clear what he will do next. He has said he will stay on in parliament as a backbencher, though he is currently being investigated by the Commons Privileges Committee over whether he lied to parliament over Partygate 

If he is found to be in contempt of parliament he could be suspended and could face a recall petition in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

It is likely he will return to writing. He has been working on a biography of William Shakespeare for the last seven years. 

Publishers Hodder & Stoughton paid a reported £500,000 for the rights to "Shakespeare: The Riddle of Genius" in 2015. It was due to be published in 2016. 

He could also follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and make a large amount of money through public speaking. 

Theresa May has earned £715,000 from making nine speeches in 2022 alone.

However, there was possibly a hint in his speech, when he said like Cincinnatus, he would be returning to his plough.

The 5th century BC Roman politician saved the state from an invasion, and then, when the job was done, returned to his farm.

However, when the call came a second time, Cincinnatus returned to Rome.