Boris Johnson to be UK’s next prime minister
The 55-year-old former mayor of London wonthe leadership race on Tuesday after securing 92,153 votes compared to 46,656votes for his opponent, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
There were 159,320 votes in total from Conservative Party members on theballot, marking the turnout at 87.4%.
Speaking shortly after the announcement onTuesday, Johnson vowed to «deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat[Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn» after taking on the role of prime minister.
He later noted that an unfortunate acronym — DUD —could be gleaned from his «deliver, unite and defeat» slogan, andinsisted that many had forgotten to add «energise» to the list tocreate DUDE.
«To all the doubters, I say — dude, we're goingto energise this country,» he quipped.
«We're going to get Brexit done on October 31.We're going to take advantage of all the new opportunities in the spirit ofcan-do.»
A flurry of reactions from politicians andleaders around the world were posted after the leadership announcement.
Michel Barnier, the European Union's chief negotiatoron Brexit, said he was looking forward to «working constructively»with Johnson on achieving an «orderly Brexit».
«We are ready also to rework the agreeddeclaration on a new partnership in line with European Councilguidelines,» he said.
Meanwhile, Theresa May congratulated hersuccessor and said he had her «full support» from the backbenches ofgovernment.
She added: «We now need to work together todeliver a Brexit that works for the whole UK and to keep Jeremy Corbyn out ofgovernment.»
Hunt also congratulated his rival on a«campaign well fought,» and said he believed Johnson would make«a great prime minister» at a «critical moment».
«Throughout the campaign you showed optimism,energy and unbounded confidence in our wonderful country and we needthat,» he wrote.
Across theAtlantic, US President Donald Trump tweeted a short message of congratulations,saying: «He will be great!»
But Jeremy Corbyn had less positive wordsfor the UK's new leader, having tweeted his criticism at having a leadershipvote of which only Conservative Party members could take part.
He said: «Boris Johnson has won the support offewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members by promising taxcuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers' friend, and pushingfor a damaging no-deal Brexit.»
«But he hasn't won the support of ourcountry.»
Brexit Partyleader Nigel Farage simply asked if Johnson had «the courage» todeliver the Brexit he pledged to «get done».
It should be mentioned that Johnson has been elected as leader of the ConservativeParty but is not yet officially the prime minister.
May will deliver her final Prime Minister's Questionsin the House of Commons on Wednesday, before giving a speech outside DowningStreet.
She will then travel to Buckingham Palace to informthe Queen that she is to hand over her duties to Johnson before Johnson himselfwill make a similar trip to the palace to confirm that he is now leader.
He will then travel back to Downing Street — his newresidence — where he will make a speech.
The new prime minister will then begin deliberatingand naming his new cabinet.