Boris Johnson was elected leader of Britain’s governing Conservative Party and the country’s next prime minister on Tuesday, tasked with following through on his “do or die” pledge to deliver Brexit in just over three months time.
HIS NOMINATION DIVIDED THE PARTY
Johnson will formally take over as prime minister on Wednesday afternoon, succeeding Theresa May, who stepped down over her failure to get parliament to ratify her Brexit deal.
Johnson, a former London mayor who resigned as foreign minister a year ago over May’s Brexit plans, is the clear favorite to replace her, with several polls putting him on around 70 percent.
Johnson’s victory in the leadership contest is likely to prompt several resignations in the deeply divided Conservative Party.
Four junior ministers have already quit over Johnson’s willingness to leave the EU without transition arrangements and finance minister Philip Hammond and justice minister David Gauke have both said they plan to resign before they are sacked. Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan resigned from his post on Monday.
Skills and apprenticeships minister Anne Milton has resigned from government today.
Brexit without a divorce deal – as anti-EU hardliners would like – would abruptly wrench the world’s fifth largest economy away from the bloc. Critics say this would undermine global growth, buffet financial markets and weaken London’s position as the pre-eminent international financial center.