Zambia's next president Michael Sata, has earned the nickname "King Cobra" for his biting rhetoric, often appealing to the urban poor and unemployed youths.
Sata, who was declared the winner of elections early on Friday, has vowed to transform the poor southern African country's fortunes within 90 days of taking office.
Foreign investors, especially the Chinese, will be watching closely to see how he does that.
The man who once swept the floors at Victoria Station in London was catapulted to power in his fourth bid for the presidency by public anger at corruption and frustration among those yet to gain from a copper mining boom.
"Lower taxes and more money in your pocket" was the chorus among poor Zambians who flocked to his rallies. They were drawn by his promise to spread the nation's mineral wealth more evenly among the 64 percent of the population living on less than two dollars a day.
His campaign symbol was a boat that resembled Noah's Ark, and he paraded through the streets in a speedboat pulled on a trailer, telling Zambians to jump on board to be saved from poverty and under-development.
Sata has little formal education, but presents himself as an experienced leader who served with distinction in various government ministries before quitting the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy to form the breakaway Patriotic Front in 2001.
He thrives on controversy. During the 2008 special elections following the death of late president Levy Mwanawasa, he raised dust and alarmed investors by promising to force foreign companies to grant a minimum 25 percent stake to locals within 30 days of taking office.
Critics fear the strong-willed firebrand would make an authoritarian president. They look nervously at his open admiration of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
But he has toned down some of his rhetoric from previous campaigns, when he threatened to expel the Chinese investors who have flocked to Zambia's copper mining sector -- the largest in Africa, and seventh-largest in the world -- amid rising international prices.
Sata now says he will work with Chinese investors if elected.
He did however lash out at China's heavy presence last year after two Chinese mine managers allegedly shot and wounded 11 workers for protesting over poor labour conditions.
"Can a Zambian shoot a Chinese in China and be left scot free? This is what we have allowed to happen in Zambia," he told AFP.
This year however he largely replaced his anti-Chinese platform with accusations against his now-defeated rival President Rupiah Banda.
He said he was soft on corruption after his government refused to appeal the graft acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba -- and disbanded the anti-corruption officials who had brought him to trial.
"Banda is a friend of thieves and thieves are very free. They have more independence than you people," Sata said at one rally.
One of Sata's slogans was "Don't Kubeba" -- meaning "Don't Tell" -- encouraging voters to accept Banda's handouts of free electricity and other campaign-season gifts, but to vote for Sata on election day.
Sata has had a lengthy career in politics, serving as minister of local government, labour, and health. He eventually became minister without portfolio, the third-highest post in government.
He also served as governor of the capital, Lusaka, under Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, but quit in 1991 when the country introduced multi-party politics.
He has a large family with his wife, Christine Kaseba.
This is his fourth presidential bid, having been trounced twice by Mwanawasa in 2001 and 2006, and losing narrowly to Banda in 2008.
He claimed the last election had been rigged, and his supporters rioted for days to protest his loss.
