Boris Johnson becomes British prime minister
The former London mayor and Brexit campaigner took office pledging to take the UK out of the European Union by the end of October, 'do or die'.
Boris Johnson became Britain's prime minister on Wednesday after winning the leadership of the governing Conservative Party, inheriting a country deeply divided over Brexit and a parliament unable to agree on how to leave the European Union.
Johnson, a former foreign secretary and two-term mayor of London who had been a leading figure in the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, defeated Jeremy Hunt in a ballot of party members. He succeeded Theresa May, whose premiership had collapsed after MPs repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she negotiated with Brussels.
Taking office outside Downing Street, Johnson struck a defiantly optimistic tone, promising to deliver Brexit by the 31 October deadline "no ifs, no buts" and to reunite a fractured country. He pledged new spending on police, hospitals and schools and insisted a fresh deal with the EU was achievable, while preparing for the possibility of leaving without one.
His elevation alarmed opponents, who saw him as a gambler willing to risk a damaging no-deal exit, and reassured supporters who believed only a true believer could break the impasse.
The months ahead would test that confidence, with battles in parliament and the courts over whether and how Britain could leave. But Johnson's arrival marked a decisive shift in tone after May's cautious tenure, and set the stage for a general election that would reshape British politics.