UK's Incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson Vows To Energize The Country
Boris Johnson won the Conservative Party leadership race on Tuesday and will replace Theresa May as UK's next prime minister.
During his victory speech at the Westminster London on Tuesday, the former U.K foreign minister and mayor of London who is also a vocal supporter of the Brexit movement, said he would prove his critics wrong and deliver Brexit.
He enumerated plans for better education, more police, better infrastructure, and full-fiber broadband in every household as he promised to unite the country.
“Like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy-ropes of self-doubt and negativity,” Johnson told audience in his speech, as quoted by the CNBC. “We are going to unite this amazing country and we are going to take it forward.”
He said his campaign slogan, "Deliver, Unite, Defeat" had an unfortunate acronym, so he added an E at the end for “energize”, to sum up his strategies during his term.
"I say to all the doubters -- 'Dude, we're going to energize the country," Johnson said, according to CNN.
Johnson was elected the new U.K leaders after receiving 92,153 votes from members of the ruling Conservative Party, defeating Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, who received 46,656 votes.
The race for new leadership took place after May announced her resignation as prime minister following repeated rejections of the Brexit deal that she struck with the European Union last year.
Johnson will take over as the prime minister on July 24, with the latest Brexit deadline set just about three months away in October.
He said that he will renegotiate May’s Brexit deal, and vowed that with or without a deal, the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the Brexit is the one big decision that Johnson has to make.
“Everything else is secondary," Blair told the German daily Die Welt. "Either he now finds a way to withdraw his ultimate demand on the backstop, or to actually risk a no deal, but with the citizens' approval. Without their clear mandate, a no deal is too politically risky for him."
The 55-year-old will also likely usher in a new team of ministers as some incumbents already announced their plans to leave their posts if he becomes the prime minister. These include
Finance Minister Philip Hammond, who has opposing views on Brexit, and Johnson’s former rival candidate for the Tory leadership Rory Stewart.
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