Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson to stand as next Conservative leader

 

FILE PHOTO: Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson gives a speech at the JCB Headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire, Britain, January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Andrew Yates/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Boris Johnson, Britain’s former foreign minister and a prominent campaigner to leave the European Union, said on Thursday he will be standing as a candidate to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as Conservative leader, the BBC reported.

 

May has said she will step down before the next phase of Brexit negotiations although she has not yet put a date on her departure.

 

“Of course I’m going to go for it,” Johnson told The British Insurance Brokers’ Association, according to the BBC.

 

Johnson resigned from the cabinet in July in protest at May’s handling of the exit negotiations.

 

The face of the 2016 Brexit campaign, Johnson set out his pitch to the membership in a speech at the party’s annual conference in October - some members queued for hours to get a seat.

 

He called on the party to return to its traditional values of low tax, strong policing and not to follow the policies of the left-wing Labour Party.

 

Betting odds indicate he is the leading candidate to replace May and has a 28 percent chance of being the next prime minister.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-16

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Not a bad idea. When you have a circus, you should have a clown on top. 

Good! Will bring the party further down the drain. Where it belongs. 

Imaging having a Brexiteer in charge of Brexit, what a novel idea. 

who cares who pulls the plug, water will still go down the drain, the country is self destructing.

1 minute ago, vogie said:

Imaging having a Brexiteer in charge of Brexit, what a novel idea. 

Well it's better than May but I think in his heart he has a remainer (or anti democracy) stance as you could say for team remain. An anti democracy leader is probably not a good idea for the conservative party. But then at number 4 or 5 behind even the loonytunes green party who cares what the conservatives are doing. 

5 minutes ago, vogie said:

Imaging having a Brexiteer in charge of Brexit, what a novel idea. 

The prospect of a Brexiteer being held accountable for the mess he helped create is indeed an improvement.

1 minute ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Well it's better than May but I think in his heart he has a remainer (or anti democracy) stance as you could say for team remain. An anti democracy leader is probably not a good idea for the conservative party. But then at number 4 or 5 behind even the loonytunes green party who cares what the conservatives are doing. 

Quite, he wouldn't necessary be my first choice, I would like to see Raab or Leadsom with the top job, but a long way to go yet.

14 minutes ago, Jack Mountain said:

Good! Will bring the party further down the drain. Where it belongs. 

The country is fine; the idiots entrusted to run it have caused this and I don't think BJ alone can fix it, not least because of his gaffe prone approach to doing things.

Perhaps around August we'll hear from Ms May: "Miss me yet?"

19 minutes ago, evadgib said:

The country is fine; the idiots entrusted to run it have caused this and I don't think BJ alone can fix it, not least because of his gaffe prone approach to doing things.

And of course those who voted for this crock of Brexit are absolved of all responsibility.

 

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

Norway and Iceland are not in the EU they seem to be doing OK.

32 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Well it's better than May but I think in his heart he has a remainer (or anti democracy) stance as you could say for team remain. An anti democracy leader is probably not a good idea for the conservative party. But then at number 4 or 5 behind even the loonytunes green party who cares what the conservatives are doing. 

Already preparing ground for further blaming when Brexiters dreams won't happen?

1 hour ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Not a bad idea. When you have a circus, you should have a clown on top. 

Certainly. He is the favored clown, confirmed by the orange boss clown from the US from A.

What can go wrong then.

41 minutes ago, evadgib said:

The country is fine; the idiots entrusted to run it have caused this and I don't think BJ alone can fix it, not least because of his gaffe prone approach to doing things.

If the MPs are idiots, then the electorate must be even more idiotic for voting them in. Which neatly explains the Referendum result. 

June 23, 2016.... The people have spoken. Let's get on with it.

The Euro experiment has clearly failed.

Why would any sane people in a sovereign country want to be ruled over enslaved by non-taxpaying globalist bureaucrats in Brussels?

29 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

And of course those who voted for this crock of Brexit are absolved of all responsibility.

 

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

Who spoke for them?

14 minutes ago, milwaukeeboy said:

............

Why would any sane people in a sovereign country want to be ruled over enslaved by non-taxpaying globalist bureaucrats in Brussels?

You either haven’t a clue about the EU or you are misinformed - otherwise you wouldn’t write such utter nonsense.

6 hours ago, Stupooey said:

If the MPs are idiots, then the electorate must be even more idiotic for voting them in. Which neatly explains the Referendum result. 

Now that you mention it, the electorate are the biggest idiots. Leaving aside Brexit, instead of giving May a mandate for Brexit (having provided a majority, however slim, in favour), they ensured there would be a hung parliament. Not exactly smart.

 

And before that, to ensure that there would never be any emerging party other than the Labour-Conservative axis, they voted against electoral reform.

 

So now you know who to blame when someone says that the politicians are all idiots and the terrible party system is bringing the country down!

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Boris Johnson, Britain’s former foreign minister and a prominent campaigner to leave the European Union, said on Thursday he will be standing as a candidate to replace Prime Minister Theresa May

Exit clown 1, enter clown 2. 

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

Norway and Iceland are not in the EU they seem to be doing OK.

They may not be “in it”, but they are heavily involved with it.

 

“Iceland is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), a grouping of four non-EU European countries, and is also part of the European Economic Area (EEA). ... Iceland is a member of the Nordic Passport Union and the Schengen Area, which now is under EU law, as a non-voting participant.”

 

“Norway contributes to the budget of the programmes it participates in, and on equal footing with EU member states. For the period 2014-2020, Norway's average annual commitment is 447 million euros.”

Edited May 17, 20197 yr by Bluespunk

It this comes to be may God help all Brits.

He would be the UK equivalent of Trump.

48 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Exit clown 1, enter clown 2. 

But a far more menacing clown

Just now, Jonnapat said:

But a far more menacing clown

Same circus, different clown. 

2 hours ago, vogie said:

Imaging having a Brexiteer in charge of Brexit, what a novel idea. 

But he isn't. He just saw the role in the Brexit camp as a stepping stone for his own gain, regardless of the damage done to the country.

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Norway and Iceland are not in the EU they seem to be doing OK.

Norway has more oil than it knows what to do with and Iceland still hangs on Denmark's tit.

53 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

It this comes to be may God help all Brits.

He would be the UK equivalent of Trump.

No, Trump is a nasty semi literate clown, BJ is an intelligent ambitious clown prone to gaffs.

Boris for PM. That's fine by me. He will do an excellent job, and will solve the current impasse.

Just now, Thingamabob said:

Boris for PM. That's fine by me. He will do an excellent job, and will solve the current impasse.

I don't think anybody can, it isn't an impasse anymore, it's the Grand canyon.

2 hours ago, Stupooey said:

If the MPs are idiots, then the electorate must be even more idiotic for voting them in. Which neatly explains the Referendum result. 

None could have foreseen the mutinous actions that have since come to pass.