Former foreign secretary will succeed Theresa May as Britain’s next prime minister after beating Jeremy Hunt

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Boris Johnson will become Britain’s next prime minister after winning a convincing victory over Jeremy Hunt in the Conservative party leadership race.

The former mayor of London, who has long cherished an ambition to lead his country, won 66% of the votes – 92,153, to Hunt’s 46,656. Turnout was 87.4% among 159,320 party members.

In a characteristically lighthearted acceptance speech, Johnson conceded that even some of his own supporters may “wonder quite what they have done”.

He claimed the Tory party had historically demonstrated it could “manage the jostling instincts in the human heart” – such as those of owning a home and helping the poorest in society.

“Today, at this pivotal moment in our history, we again have to reconcile two noble sets of instincts – between the deep desire for friendship and free trade and mutual support and security and defence between Britain and our European partners; and the simultaneous desire, equally heartfelt, for democratic self-government in this country.”

He reminded his audience of ministers and party staff of his campaign mantra: “Deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn.”

Saying “some wag” had pointed out that this spelled “dud”, he joked that the final e – “E for energise” – had been left out. “I say to all the doubters: dude, we are going to energise the country!”

And Johnson said he would “get Brexit done by 31 October” with a “new spirit of can-do”.

“We are once again going to believe in ourselves and what we can achieve, and like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy-ropes of self-doubt and negativity.”

The result of the contest was announced by the joint chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Cheryl Gillan. Her colleague, Charles Walker, first urged MPs to be “kinder” to the new leader than they had been to Theresa May.

Brandon Lewis, the Conservative party chair, introduced the slick event at a conference centre in Westminster, saying the race had shown that his party was fundamentally united.

Johnson’s victory was almost immediately welcomed by Donald Trump, who tweeted: “He will be great!”

But Johnson was left in no doubt about the opposition he will face from his own benches if he attempts to force through a no-deal Brexit. Alan Duncan quit as a Foreign Office minister on Monday and Anne Milton as education minister on Tuesday, rather than serve under Johnson.

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, the justice secretary, David Gauke, and the international development secretary, Rory Stewart, are expected to join them on the backbenches after the leadership change.

Stewart confirmed he would return to the backbenches on Wednesday, tweeting: “Backbench tomorrow serving Cumbria. Thank you all. More walking!”

Johnson addressed Tory MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee on Tuesday afternoon, as well as thanking party staff and his own campaign team.

He will not take office formally until Wednesday afternoon. May will face her final prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons before tendering her resignation to the Queen.

Johnson will then go to Buckingham Palace for his appointment to be confirmed before being driven to Downing Street to give a speech in front of the black door of No 10.

He takes charge at a perilous political moment. The Conservatives’ wafer-thin parliamentary working majority is expected to be eroded further next week – to just two – if the Liberal Democrats win the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection.

Johnson has faced a furious internal revolt even before arriving in Downing Street, with several key cabinet ministers, including Hammond saying they would resign rather than serve under him.

They have been alarmed by Johnson’s insistence that he is willing to countenance leaving the European Union without a deal on 31 October, rather than postpone Brexit once again, even if that meant proroguing parliament.

Despite painstaking media management, his campaign has been dogged by a series of controversies, including the revelation that police had been called to a noisy argument at the home he shares with his partner, Carrie Symonds.

Johnson was also blamed by some colleagues, including Duncan for the resignation of the ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, after confidential diplomatic cables about Trump were leaked. Duncan said the former foreign secretary had thrown Darroch “under a bus”.

However, Johnson had been the runaway favourite to become leader after securing support from both wings of the bitterly divided Tory party, from the health secretary, Matt Hancock, to the chair of the European Research Group, Jacob Rees-Mogg.

He is regarded by colleagues as an impressive political campaigner, and the man with the best chance of seeing off the formidable electoral challenge from Nigel Farage’s Brexit party, which beat the Tories soundly in May’s European elections.

May will leave Downing Street on Wednesday after a three-year premiership overwhelmingly defined by the failure of her government to implement Brexit.

Johnson is likely to embark on fresh negotiations with EU leaders and key Brussels decision makers as soon as possible, with a view to securing changes to May’s deal in time for the Halloween deadline.

But with no secure majority, and Labour determined to demand a referendum on any deal he brings back from Brussels, many MPs believe he could be forced to call a general election within months in order to win a mandate for his plan.