Boris Johnson, the polarizing and showboating politician who led the campaign for Britannia to leave the EU in 2016, is now officially in charge of ushering the country through that fraught and difficult divorce. With Theresa May's exit, Johnson took office as prime minister Wednesday."There are pessimists at home and abroad who think after three years of indecision that this country has become a prisoner to the old arguments of 2016, and in this home of democracy we are incapable of honoring a democratic mandate," Johnson said, standing outside the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street in London.
"I am standing before you today to tell you, the British people, that those critics are wrong," he added in the consistently optimistic address. "The people who bet against Britannia are going to lose their shirts."
Johnson said he has every faith that the U.K. would succeed in obtaining a "better deal" from the EU, adding that "the time has come to act ‐ to take decisions, to give strong leadership, and to change this country for the better."
His predecessor resigned in May after failing to deliver Brexit, a process that's been fraught with massive obstacles both domestically and in EU negotiations in Brussels.
Johnson, who rose to fame as a newspaper correspondent whose dispatches from Brussels railed against the EU, has previously served as mayor of London. He served as May's foreign secretary but quit over disagreements about her handling of Brexit.
Before speaking to the public, Johnson had a private meeting at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II, in an official ceremony where he took office. He now becomes the 14th prime minister to serve during the queen's reign.
6 top UK ministers resign as Johnson takes office
| The first step in clearing out the British deep state. |
So far, May’s secretaries in defense, business, education, transport, local government and international trade have all announced they are leaving government. That comes hours after Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and May’s de-facto deputy, David Lidington, resigned.
Some of those leaving had said they would rather go than serve under Johnson, who wants to leave the Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...an Union even if no Brexit agreement is in place to ease the transition. Johnson insists the country will leave the EU by Oct. 31 ‐ "do or die."
Jeremy Hunt leaves job as UK foreign secretary
[IsraelTimes] Jeremy Hunt says he’s leaving the job of foreign secretary as new Prime Minister Boris Johnson sweeps into office with a fresh team at the top.
Hunt’s position had been closely watched. He had challenged Johnson for the job of Conservative leader, and says he wanted to stay on as foreign secretary. But Hunt says Johnson offered another role.
Hunt tweeted that “after 9 yrs in Cabinet & over 300 cab mtgs now is the time to return 2 backbenches from where PM will have my full support.”
British PM Johnson names Sajid Javid as finance minister
[IsraelTimes] British Prime Minister Boris Johnson names former interior minister Sajid Javid to take over from Philip Hammond as finance minister in his first cabinet appointment, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
Javid, a former banker from a modest background, was a contender for the premiership but endorsed Johnson when he failed to get enough support from fellow Conservative MPs.
Johnson names Brexit hardliner Dominic Raab new UK foreign minister
[IsraelTimes] Newly installed Prime Minister Boris Johnson names Brexit hardliner Dominic Raab to be Britain’s foreign secretary, the government said in a statement.
Raab, 45, who was also named as Johnson’s effective deputy, resigned as Brexit minister in Theresa May’s government last year saying the divorce deal she struck with Brussels offered too many compromises.
| Congratulations rolled in from all over the world, of course, but the Turks are particularly excited. From Al Ahram: |
The former London mayor is the great-grandson of the Ottoman Empire's last interior minister, Ali Kemal, and his ancestry has been a source of pride for many Turks.
Despite his sometimes disparaging remarks about Turkey, including a crude limerick about President Tayyip Erdogan and demands in 2016 that Britain veto Turkey's accession to the European Union, Johnson is affectionately referred to as "Boris the Turk" by some Turkish media.
"Ottoman grandson becomes prime minister," read a front-page headline of the opposition newspaper Sozcu. "For England, a prime minister with roots in Cankiri," it said, referring to Kemal's home province in central Turkey.