Boris Johnson takes charge as new Prime Minister of United Kingdom

Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson officially took charge as new Prime Minister of United Kingdom (UK), he met Queen Elizabeth II, who invited him to form the new government. He defeated Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Johnson, a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), former foreign minister, and former mayor of London replaced outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May, who was forced to step aside after failing to deliver a Brexit deal.

About Boris Johnson,

The 55-year-old is an ardent backer of Brexit and vocal opponent of Theresa May’s deal. He is identified as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically and socially liberal policies.

He won a decisive victory over Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt for party’s leadership by a significant margin after a race spanning 7 weeks, during course of which 1,60,000 members of British Conservative Party picked next UK PM.

Like his predecessor Theresa May, he will be inheriting a wafer-thin parliamentary majority therefore, will rely on support of Democratic Unionists Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland to govern.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2019