Boris Johnson will underline his determination to unite a fractured and demoralised Conservative party and deliver Brexit by 31 October as he achieves his long-cherished ambition of becoming Britain’s prime minister.
The new Tory leader has already begun “love-bombing” sceptical centre-ground MPs as Theresa May prepared to leave No 10 Downing Street after three fraught years.
“He is at heart a one-nation Tory. That’s who he is and that’s how he’ll govern,” insisted a Johnson ally.
The former mayor of London swept to a convincing victory over Jeremy Hunt, after securing the backing of ardent Brexiters including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker.
Johnson won 66% of the votes – 92,153, to Hunt’s 46,656. Turnout was 87.4% among the Tory party’s 159,320 eligible members.
But with a wafer-thin majority in the House of Commons, he will need the backing of colleagues from both sides of the divide to get a Brexit deal through parliament. » | Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot | Tuesday, July 23, 2019
