美国总统唐纳德·特朗普称之为朋友的鲍里斯·约翰逊(Boris Johnson)将在赢得保守党领导人选举后接任英国新首相,接替即将离任的特里萨·梅。
周二,约翰逊在伦敦威斯敏斯特的胜利演讲中告诉保守党同僚:“拯救英国退出欧盟,团结全国,打败[工党领袖]杰里米·科尔宾——这就是我们要做的事情。”。
约翰逊指出,保守党传递、团结和打败的口号拼写为“哑弹”,这是一个不幸的首字母缩写。但在此基础上,他为“激励”加了一个“e”,并说:“我对所有怀疑者说:伙计,我们要激励这个国家。”
约翰逊获胜后不久,特朗普发推特祝贺他:“他会很棒的!”
五月的首相任期崩溃了在她一再未能让不受欢迎的英国退出欧盟协议通过议会脱离欧盟后,议会一次又一次拒绝了她的提议。随着时间的推移,她失去了选民和她的政党的支持,并以糟糕的支持率离开了办公室。
约翰逊是英国政坛一个古怪而分裂的人物,他曾在2016年公投期间竞选离开欧盟,承诺最迟在10月31日交出拖延了两次的英国退出欧盟,不管有没有协议。
在该党领导人竞选的最后阶段,他击退了英国外交大臣杰里米·亨特——他曾竞选反对英国退出欧盟,但现在想带着一份交付全民公决结果的协议离开。有资格投票的160,000名托利党人中,约有87%的人参加了投票。约翰逊获得了92,000多张选票。
梅将于周三正式辞去总理职务,此前她在议会参加了最后一次总理提问。她将前往白金汉宫向女王递交辞呈。
约翰逊,一位社会自由主义的前伦敦市长,然后将抵达皇宫,由君主任命为首相。保守党在英国议会中占有微弱多数,实际上要求政府达成共识。
约翰逊是一位魅力非凡的知名人物,支持者认为,随着保守党在民意调查中的支持率跌至历史低点,他是保守党保住政府的唯一希望。他们希望他的个性和不惜一切代价去实现英国退出欧盟的愿望就足够了。
下图由提供Statista,显示了英国公众对10月31日离开欧盟的信心。
英国公众对英国10月31日离开欧盟的信心。
但是对他的对手来说,约翰逊是一个只受个人野心驱使的政治家,一个浅薄的人,他的政治信仰是可塑的,他作为伦敦市长的遗产充其量是微不足道的,最坏的情况是他的领导能力是不称职的。
大选现在被广泛认为是不可避免的,如果不是今年秋天,那么到春天。议会在英国退出欧盟问题上陷入僵局,除了拒绝达成协议之外,无法就前进的道路达成一致。
约翰逊曾有过一个颇具争议的想法,那就是让议会休会——暂时关闭议会,就像正常休会一样——迫使英国退出欧盟在万圣节最后期限过后默认通过一项不达成协议。
在约翰逊被选为领导人之前,几名现任政府成员已经辞职,理由是他们与约翰逊对英国退出欧盟的看法不同,他们不能支持不达成协议的方案。
约翰逊在担任伦敦市长期间,对当时的总统候选人特朗普发表了贬损言论,指责他“神志不清”、“愚昧无知”以及“不适合”担任高级职务。
但特朗普和约翰逊自2016年成为英国外交大臣后就开始变得亲密起来,在他因5月份处理英国退出欧盟问题辞职之前,约翰逊曾担任外交大臣两年。
像特朗普一样,约翰逊有着发表蛮横无礼的评论引发对种族主义、同性恋恐惧症和厌恶女性的指控。
例如,前记者约翰逊曾将同性恋男子称为“坦克顶流浪汉”,在一篇讽刺前英国首相托尼·布莱尔的文章中,他将英联邦非洲人描述为“挥舞着旗帜的皮肯尼人”,带着“西瓜般的微笑”
新总理也是出生于纽约市,拥有美国公民身份直到2016年国内税收署就出售他在伦敦北部的房产向他开出税单后,他才放弃。
2019年7月22日,保守党领袖候选人鲍里斯·约翰逊在宣布保守党领袖竞赛获胜者的前夕离开了他在伦敦市中心威斯敏斯特的竞选办公室。
DONALD TRUMP'S FRIEND BORIS JOHNSON TAKING OVER AS U.K. PM: 'DUDE, WE'RE GOING TO ENERGIZE THE COUNTRY'
Boris Johnson, a man U.S. President Donald Trump describes as his friend, will take over as the U.K.'s new prime minister after winning the Conservative Party's leadership contest to replace the outgoing Theresa May.
"Deliver Brexit, unite the country, and defeat [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn—and that is what we're going to do," Johnson told fellow Conservatives in his victory speech at Westminster, London, on Tuesday.
Johnson noted that the Conservative Party's mantra to deliver, unite, and defeat spelled "dud," an unfortunate acronym. But to this he added an "e" for "energize," and said: "I say to all the doubters: Dude, we're going to energize the country."
Shortly after Johnson's victory, Trump tweeted to congratulate him: "He will be great!"
May's premiership came crashing down after her repeated failure to get her unpopular Brexit deal to leave the European Union through Parliament, which time and again rejected her proposals. Over time, she lost the support of voters and then her party, and leaves office with a terrible approval rating.
Johnson, an eccentric and divisive figure in British politics, who campaigned to leave the EU during the 2016 referendum, promised to deliver the twice-delayed Brexit by no later than October 31, with or without a deal.
He fought off the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt—who campaigned against Brexit, but now wants to leave with a deal to deliver on the referendum result—in the final stage of the party's leadership contest. Around 87 percent of the 160,000 Tories eligible to vote turned out. Johnson secured more than 92,000 votes.
May will formally resign as prime minister on Wednesday after taking part in her last Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament. She will head to Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation with the Queen.
Johnson, a socially-liberal former Mayor of London, will then arrive at the Palace to be appointed prime minister by the monarch. The Conservatives have a tiny majority in the British Parliament, requiring, in practice, government-by-consensus.
A charismatic and well-known figure, Johnson is seen by supporters as the only hope the Conservative Party has of keeping it in government as its support in the polls sinks to historic lows. They hope that his personality and drive to deliver Brexit-at-all-costs will be enough.
The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates British public confidence in the U.K. leaving the EU on October 31.
British public confidence in the U.K. leaving the EU on October 31.STATISTA
But to his opponents, Johnson is a politician fueled by little more than personal ambition, a shallow man whose political beliefs are malleable and whose legacy as London mayor is at best trivial, and at worst a record of incompetent leadership.
A general election is now widely seen as inevitable if not this Autumn, then by the Spring. Parliament is deadlocked over the issue of Brexit, unable to agree on a path forward other than rejecting a no deal scenario.
Johnson has flirted with the controversial idea of proroguing Parliament—temporarily closing it as though it were a normal recess—to force a no deal Brexit through by default when the Halloween deadline passes.
Ahead of Johnson's selection as leader, several current serving members of the government have resigned, citing their differences with his views on Brexit, and that they could not support a no deal scenario.
While he was Mayor of London, Johnson made derogatory remarks about the then-presidential candidate Trump, accusing him of being "out of his mind," of "stupefying ignorance," and of being "unfit" for high office.
But Trump and Johnson have since warmed to each other after the latter became Britain's foreign secretary in 2016, a role he held for two years until he resigned over May's handling of Brexit.
Like Trump, Johnson has a history of making outrageous and offensive comments sparking accusations of racism, homophobia, and misogyny.
Johnson, a former journalist, has, for example, referred to homosexual men as "tank-topped bumboys," and in a satirical piece about former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, described Commonwealth Africans as "flag-waving piccannines" with "watermelon smiles."
The new prime minister was also born in New York City and held U.S. citizenship until he relinquished it in 2016 after the Internal Revenue Service hit him with a tax bill over the sale of his property in North London.
Conservative leadership candidate Boris Johnson leaves his campaign offices in Westminster in Central London on July 22, 2019 on the eve of the announcement of the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest.TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES