Europe’s press could not quite believe it either. “The Queen’s jester,” was the headline in France’s Libération as Boris Johnson prepared to enter No 10 Downing St. “He’ll start breaking his promises tomorrow,” warned Der Spiegel in Germany.
In a scathing portrait of the new prime minister, Le Monde said Johnson was “known for his eccentricity, his elastic positions, his narcissism and his lies”. His “insatiable need to be liked and phenomenal aplomb” meant anything was possible, the paper said. “Boris Johnson has a rendezvous with history – his lifelong dream.”
Libération said Johnson would “have to move fast to unveil his Brexit strategy” – something of a problem as “the possibilities open to him to keep his promise of leaving the EU by 31 October are extremely limited ... If the British government has changed, the obstacles remain the same.” » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Wednesday, July 24, 2019
