Boris Johnson is set to win the race Tuesday to become Britain’s next prime minister, charged with resolving the Brexit impasse and the high-stakes tanker crisis with Iran.
Johnson, who has vowed to take Britain out of the European Union on the October 31 deadline, with or without a deal, is set to march head-on into a collision with Brussels, the British parliament and Tehran.
The former London mayor, who charms and alarms colleagues in equal numbers, is widely expected to beat Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt when the results of the Conservative leadership contest are declared.
The governing party’s new leader will take over from Theresa May as prime minister on Wednesday.
After exhausting all possible avenues to get her Brexit plan through parliament, May stepped down as party leader on June 7, triggering a six-week leadership contest.
Some 160,000 grassroots Conservative party members had the chance to choose their new leader.
But the incoming premier faces exactly the same set of circumstances — if not worse — with parliament deadlocked as the Brexit deadline looms.
The new leader will have just three months to attempt to resolve a three-year Brexit crisis that could damage economies on both sides of the Channel and determine the fate of generations of Britons.
The pound is trading near a two-year low against the dollar and the euro.
And the new prime minister takes over with a precariously tiny majority in parliament’s lower House of Commons.
It was cut to just two on Monday following the suspension of Charlie Elphicke from the Conservative ranks after he was charged with three counts of sexual assault. He denies the allegations.
Johnson’s seemingly imminent appointment triggered some ministers to announce their resignations, including finance minister Philip Hammond.
AFP
