Boris Johnson takes control of Brexit
New leader vows to quit EU by end of October, come what may
LONDON — Boris Johnson took office as British prime minister on Wednesday after an audience with Queen Elizabeth, a moment that put an avowed Brexiteer in control of Britain’s exit from the European Union for the first time since the shock 2016 referendum.
Johnson enters Downing Street at one of the most perilous junctures in post-World War Two British history — the United Kingdom is divided over its divorce from the EU and weakened by the three-year political crisis that has gripped it since that referendum.
One of Britain’s most prominent Brexit campaigners, Johnson has repeatedly pledged to leave the European Union by Oct. 31 — “do or die” — and to inject a new optimism and energy into the divorce, which he argues will bring a host of opportunities.
But his Brexit strategy sets the United Kingdom up for a showdown with the European Union and thrusts it towards a potential constitutional crisis, or an election, at home.
“We are going to get Brexit done on Oct. 31 and we are going to take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring in a new spirit of can do,” Johnson, 55, said on Tuesday after he was elected by Conservative Party members.
To implement Brexit, Johnson will appoint Dominic Cummings, the campaign director of the official Brexit Vote Leave campaign, as a senior adviser in Downing Street.
Wednesday’s events combined arcane British political choreography with the realpolitik of appointing a new government — likely to be heavy on Brexit supporters.
Prime Minister Theresa May left Downing Street after a three-year premiership that was marred by crises over Brexit. She formally tendered her resignation to Queen Elizabeth.
May appeared to be fighting back tears as she was applauded out of the House of Commons chamber. Her finance minister, Philip Hammond, resigned.
Johnson had a possible foretaste of turmoil ahead when, as he drove to his audience with the queen, Greenpeace protesters tried — but failed — to block the path of his car as his chauffeur drove around them.
The queen requested he form an administration. His formal title is now “Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”
He is due to enter Downing Street shortly and is expected to give a speech before appointing key members of the government — names that will give a hint of how he will handle Brexit, Britain’s most significant decision in decades.
“Boris will build a cabinet showcasing all the talents within the party that truly reflect modern Britain,” a source close to Johnson said.
BREXIT GOVERNMENT?
But ‘Prime Minister Johnson’ — a man known for his ambition, mop of blonde hair, flowery oratory and a cursory command of detail — must solve a series of riddles if he is to succeed where May failed.
The 2016 Brexit referendum showed a United Kingdom divided about much more than the European Union, and has fueled soul-searching about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and modern Britishness.
The pound is weak, the economy at risk of recession, allies are in despair at the Brexit crisis and foes are testing Britain’s vulnerability.
His party has no majority in parliament so the Conservatives only govern with the support of 10 lawmakers from the Brexit-backing Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.
While Johnson said he does not want an early election, some lawmakers have vowed to thwart any attempt to leave the EU without a divorce deal. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said he was open to an electoral pact with Johnson.
Investors are braced to see who will be handed the top jobs such as finance minister, foreign secretary and Brexit minister.
The appointment of Cummings, known for his campaign skills but also for a combative style that challenges the consensus, indicates Johnson is serious about going in hard on Brexit and wants a first-class political campaigner close.
Cummings, who graduated with a top degree from Oxford, says Britain’s political system is broken and Brexit negotiations have been botched by officials and politicians who have thwarted the will of the people.