Boris Johnson wins race to be prime minister

Boris Johnson has been elected leader of Britain’s governing Conservative Party and the next prime minister on Tuesday, tasked with following through on his “do or die” pledge to deliver Brexit in just over three months.

He defeated his rival Jeremy Hunt overwhelmingly in a vote of Conservative Party members. He will be installed as prime minister in a formal handover from Theresa May on Wednesday.

The victory is a triumph for the 55-year-old Johnson, an ambitious but erratic politician whose political career has veered between periods in high office and spells on the sidelines.

Johnson has vowed that Britain will quit the European Union, “come what may,” on the scheduled Brexit departure date of Oct. 31 even if it means leaving without a divorce deal

But he faces a rocky ride from a Parliament determined to prevent him from taking the U.K. out of the bloc without a withdrawal agreement.

US President Donald Trump congratulated Johnson in a tweet, saying: “He will be great!”

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

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