Former London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has been elected the new Conservative leader in a ballot of party members and will become the next UK prime minister.
He beat Jeremy Hunt comfortably, winning 92,153 votes to his rival’s 46,656 to take over from Theresa May on Wednesday.
In his victory speech, Mr Johnson promised that he would “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn”. Speaking at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, he said:
We are going to energise the country.
We are going to get Brexit done on 31 October and take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring with a new spirit of can do.
We are once again going to believe in ourselves, and like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self doubt and negativity.
In 2017, then Foreign Secretary, Johnson, gave hope to Zimbabwe over the possibility of readmission into the Commonwealth. He said:
We will never forget the strong ties between Britain and Zimbabwe.
His remarks followed military takeover from the then president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. UK government however later backtracked on supporting Zimbabwe’s readmission.
Mr Johnson was Mrs May’s foreign secretary until resigning over Brexit.
The outgoing PM congratulated her successor promising him her “full support from the backbenches”.
More: BBC News
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