Britain’s Johnson vows to break impasse that defeated his predecessor

LONDON — Boris Johnson took over as Britain’s prime minister Wednesday, vowing to break the impasse that defeated his predecessor by leading the country out of the European Union and silencing “the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters” who believe it can’t be done.

But the brash Brexit champion faces the same problems that flummoxed Theresa May during her three years in office: heading a government without a parliamentary majority and with most lawmakers opposed to leaving the EU without a divorce deal.

Johnson has just 99 days to make good on his promise to deliver Brexit by Oct. 31 after what he called “three years of unfounded selfdoubt.”

He optimistically pledged to get “a new deal, a better deal” with the EU than the one secured by May, which was repeatedly rejected by Britain’s Parliament.

“The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts,” he said, standing outside the shiny black door of 10 Downing St.

Trying to avoid the political divisions that plagued May, Johnson swept out many of her ministers to make way for his own team, dominated by loyal Brexiteers. He appointed Sajid Javid to the key role of Treasury chief, named staunch Brexit supporter Dominic Raab as foreign secretary and made Priti Patel the new home secretary, or interior minister. Michael Gove, who ran the 2016 campaign to leave the EU alongside Johnson, also got a Cabinet job.

Over half of May’s Cabinet is gone, including exForeign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s defeated rival for the Tory leadership, who said he had turned down the chance to stay in government in a different job.

Victoria Jones / Associated Press Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II welcomes newly elected leader of the Conservative party Boris Johnson during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London on Wednesday, where she invited him to become Prime Minister and form a new government.