Message for doubters: Dude, we’ll get this done

Boris Johnson was chosen as the United Kingdom’s next prime minister with a resounding mandate from the Conservative Party but conflicting demands from a politically divided country.

Johnson will have just over three months to make good on his promise to lead the UK out of the European Union by October 31.

Johnson easily defeated Conservative rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two-thirds of the votes of about 160,000 party members across the UK.

He replaces Theresa May as prime minister after she announced her resignation last month after Parliament repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with the 28-nation bloc, leaving Britain stranded in Brexit limbo.

The UK’s departure from the EU was delayed from its long scheduled exit in March.

Johnson radiated optimism in a brief victory speech to hundreds of party members and lawmakers, pledging to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn”, leader of the opposition Labour Party.

“I say to all the doubters: ‘Dude, we are going to energise the country, we are going to get Brexit done’,” said Johnson, a former London mayor and British Foreign Secretary.

In a sign he hopes to move beyond the largely white, male and affluent Conservative Party members who chose him as their leader, Johnson’s office said he will put together a “Cabinet for modern Britain”, with a record number of ethnic-minority lawmakers.

Hunt, a stolid politician compared to the flamboyant Johnson , said he was sure Johnson would “do a great job”. “He’s got optimism, enthusiasm, he puts a smile on people’s face and he has total, unshakable confidence in our amazing country,” he said.

Johnson insists he can get the EU to renegotiate, something the bloc insists it won’t do. If not, he says Britain must leave the EU by the October 31 deadline, “come what may”.

Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, said he looked forward “to working constructively” with Johnson.

Economists warn that a no-deal Brexit would disrupt trade and plunge the UK into recession.