Washington | Mike Johnson of Louisiana won election on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) to become the 56th speaker of the US House of Representatives, as Republicans worn down by three weeks of infighting and dysfunction turned to a little-known conservative hardliner beloved by the far right to end their paralysis.

The elevation of Mr Johnson, 51, an architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election and a religious conservative opposed to abortion rights, homosexuality and same-sex marriage, further cemented the Republican Party’s lurch to the right.