Brexiteer Boris is new PM
His victory catapults UK towards a showdown with EU, and a constitutional crisis
BORIS Johnson, the Brexiteer who has promised to lead Britain out of the EU with or without a deal by the end of October, will replace Theresa May as prime minister after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party yesterday.
His convincing victory catapults the UK towards a showdown with the EU and towards a constitutional crisis at home, as British lawmakers have vowed to bring down any government that tries to leave the bloc without a divorce deal.
Johnson, the face of the 2016 Brexit referendum, won the votes of 92 153 members of the Conservative party, almost twice the 46 656 won by his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
May will leave office today after going to Buckingham Palace to see Queen Elizabeth, who will formally appoint Johnson before he enters Downing Street.
“We are going to get Brexit done on October 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 after the result was announced.
Johnson said the mantra of his leadership campaign had been to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat (opposition Labour leader) Jeremy Corbyn – and that is what we are going to do”.
The victory for one of Britain’s most flamboyant politicians places an avowed Brexit supporter in charge of the government for the first time since the UK voted to leave the EU in the shock 2016 referendum.
But Johnson – known for his ambition, untidy blond hair, flowery oratory and cursory command of policy detail – takes office at one of the most tumultuous junctures in post-World War II British history.
The pound has fallen sharply in recent weeks on fears of a no-deal Brexit, and stands near $1.24 (R17), around its lowest level for two years. With Johnson’s win already priced in, it was little changed yesterday.
Johnson has pledged to negotiate a new Brexit divorce deal with the EU to secure a smooth transition out of the EU. But if the bloc refuses, as it insists it will, he has promised to leave anyway – “do or die” – on the current agreed date of October 31 – Halloween.
It is a step that many investors and economists say would send shock waves through world markets and tip the world’s fifth largest economy into recession or even chaos.
The EU said a no-deal Brexit would be a tragedy for both parties but again said the withdrawal deal was not up for negotiation.
“We look forward to working constructively with PM Johnson when he takes office, to facilitate the ratification of the withdrawal agreement and achieve an orderly Brexit,” tweeted the bloc’s negotiator, Michel Barnier.
A Brexit without a divorce deal would also weaken London’s position as the pre-eminent international financial centre while jolting the northern European economy.
Johnson’s Conservatives have no majority in parliament and need the support of 10 lawmakers from Northern Ireland’s Brexit-backing Democratic Unionist Party to govern.
The rise of the US-born Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, often referred to as simply “Boris”, to the top of British politics is the grandest twist so far in a career that has taken him from journalism via TV-show fame, comedy and scandal into the political brinkmanship of Britain’s Brexit crisis.
But his sometimes shambolic personal appearance and disarmingly self-deprecating persona have allowed him to survive both gaffes and scandal. He served two terms as London mayor, from 2008 to 2016.
In 2016, Johnson became one of the most recognisable faces of the Brexit campaign, which won the referendum by 52% to 48%, but faced accusations of making misleading claims to win support, most notably by stating that Britain would be $440m a week better off outside the EU.