Boris Johnson wins Conservative party ballot to become Britain’s Prime Minister

Britain’s celebrities are losing it on social media as they line up to take shots at Boris Johnson, the man who’s been named the nation’s new PM.

Boris Johnson has been named the next British Prime Minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest against Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Mr Johnson won the contest with more than 92,000 votes compared to 46,656 for Mr Hunt, drawn from the nearly 160,000 Conservative Party members from around the country.

In his victory speech, Mr Johnson said it was an “extraordinary honour and privilege” to receive the leadership and joked that while “people will question the wisdom of your decision,” “no one party has a monopoly on wisdom.”

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Mr Johnson will take office on Wednesday after Theresa May hosts her final Prime Minister’s Questions and heads to Buckingham Palace to hand her resignation to the Queen.

He will then visit the Queen himself, before moving his furniture into Downing Street and “the hard work begins”, as he told the audience in London.

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Mr Johnson will address the nation tomorrow to set out his priorities in office, however he gave a glimpse of them on Tuesday when he said he wanted to deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He joked about the unfortunate acronym DUD, but said people are forgetting the ‘E’ for energise.

“I say to all the doubters, ‘dude we are going to energise the country,” he said, adding that the UK would be a “slumbering giant” that would “rise and ping off the guy ropes of self doubt.”

Mr Hunt is currently foreign secretary and surprised many with the strength of his campaign against Mr Johnson. Picture: Odd ANDERSEN and Paul ELLIS / AFP.

President Trump tweeted his congratulations to the new Prime Minister, saying he would be “great”. At a speech later int the day, Trump said Mr Johnson was a “really good man” who is “tough and smart”.

“They call him Britain Trump,” he told his supporters to loud cheers. “People say that’s a good thing. They like me over there.“That’s what they wanted. That’s what they need. He’ll get it done. Boris is good.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he looks forward to meeting him at the G7 and praised his “reputation for making things happen”.

Mr Johnson is expected to start taking calls from world leaders tomorrow once he is installed in office.

Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2019

Congratulations to @BorisJohnson on his election as Leader of the Conservative Party in the UK. I look forward to working with him and catching up at the G7 next month.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) July 23, 2019

European Union leaders also tweeted their congratulations and said they are ready to work on a Brexit deal.

“We look forward to working constructively with PM Boris Johnson when he takes office, to facilitate the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement and achieve an orderly Brexit,” EU negotiator Michel Barnier tweeted.

Both Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt offered their congratulations. It’s unclear whether his rival, Jeremy Hunt, will stay in his role at the Foreign Office.

Congratulations @BorisJohnson 4 a campaign well https://t.co/b1rmrIHic6'll be a great PM for our country at this critical moment!Throughout campaign you showed optimism,energy & unbounded confidence in our wonderful country & we need that.All best wishes from the entrepreneur :-)

— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 23, 2019

Many congratulations to @BorisJohnson on being elected leader of @Conservatives - we now need to work together to deliver a Brexit that works for the whole UK and to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of government. You will have my full support from the back benches.

— Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 23, 2019

However, the floppy-haired Brexiteer’s appointment hasn’t gone down well with some public figures in the UK lining up to take shots at him on social media.

Radiohead singer Thom Yorke tweeted a historic letter from one of Mr Johnson’s teachers at the elite Eton College, condemning the then 18-year-old Johnson on his behaviour as a student. Mr Yorke simply wrote: “F*** you Prime Minister”.

Hip-hop star Stormzy retweeted a message with a line from one of his singles, saying “F*** Boris”. Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson tweeted an emoji of a woman holding her head in her hands.

Brexit has been the defining issue of the leadership contest, with polls showing Conservative party members favoured Mr Johnson as the right person to handle Brexit.

YouGov data shows he is the most popular Conservative politician and 68 per cent of Conservative members were more interested in Brexit plans than domestic policy. More than half said they would vote for a good Brexit plan even if domestic policy was lacking.

Both Mr Hunt and Mr Johnson refused to rule out a no deal Brexit, although Mr Johnson is regarded as more of a hard Brexiteer.

Mr Johnson’s campaign has tried to paint an optimistic picture of post-Brexit Britain, although he has been criticised for lacking detail. Mr Hunt has portrayed himself as a safe pair of hands for sheparding the Brexit process although some believe his managerial style is not as inspirational.

Several cabinet ministers including Chancellor Philip Hammond, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and Justice Secretary David Gauke said they would hand in their resignations rather than serve under Mr Johnson in protest over his Brexit approach.

Brexit and a failed general election which wiped out her majority got the better of Theresa May and she handed in her resignation last month. Pictured, arriving at Downing Street in 2016 on the left, and resigning in 2019. Picture: JUSTIN TALLIS and Tolga AKMEN / AFP

Mr Johnson is a gaffe-prone former Mayor of London and Foreign Secretary who resigned after he disagreed with Theresa May’s Brexit plan. Here he is taking on a schoolboy at rugby in Japan in 2015. Picture: AFP.

The leadership contest came after Theresa May announced she would resign last month after failing to pass her withdrawal agreement with the EU in the UK parliament.

The new leader will face a huge task of trying to cobble together a Brexit deal where parliament is utterly divided over what the new relationship with the EU should look like. The Conservative Party lacks an overall majority and most members of the House of Commons oppose leaving the EU without a deal.

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