How Boris Johnson went from court jester to crown prince after Brexit win

London, June 24: Boris Johnson, the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed David Cameron as prime minister after Britain voted to leave the European Union, will have to complete a transition from “court jester” to statesman to step into the role. His first task is to articulate what a Brexit will actually mean.

The former mayor of London, who helped shape Britain’s cynicism about the EU when he was a journalist based in Brussels, will need to harness the populist support he rode as a leading figure in the “Leave” campaign. To do that, he needs to show he can deliver on the promises made of a future of “sunlit meadows” that won over voters across swathes of England and Wales — though not in Scotland or London.

“He’s ridden this wave but he’s not demonstrated the capacity to do difficult politics, he’s only ever told people what they want to hear,” said Steve Fielding, professor of politics at the University of Manchester. “He’s a politician for the good times and these are not good times. This is a financial Dunkirk potentially and I don’t think that he’s Winston Churchill.”

During the acrimonious campaign, Johnson was repeatedly asked to spell out his vision for a post-Brexit Britain and brushed over the details, preferring to speak of independence, sovereignty and “huge amounts of money” that would be freed up to spend on “our priorities.”

In a statement to reporters on Friday hailing the “Leave” side’s victory, he stressed there was still time to work out the details of the UK’s future relationship with the EU. “There’s no need for haste,” he said. “Nothing will change over the short term.”

The frontrunner has not won a Conservative leadership contest since Anthony Eden in 1955 and Johnson’s elevation to the premiership is not a foregone conclusion.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbor ne, once a leadership favourite, is too closely tied to Cameron to still be considered a serious contender, leaving the field open for home secretary Theresa May and Johnson’s “Leave” campaign colleague, Michael Gove. Other leadership challengers could include work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb and education secretary Nicky Morgan, both from the “Remain” wing of the party.

For Johnson, 52, stepping into the top job at a time of crisis — even if it is one of his own making — would be a challenge he’s convinced he is ready for, even if his Tory colleagues are less sure. “He’s the life and soul of the party but he’s not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening,” energy secretary Amber Rudd said during one of the referendum debates. Bloomberg

Boris Johnson