Then there were two: Johnson and Hunt fight for British PM job

[webfact]

Then there were two: Johnson and Hunt fight for British PM job

By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden

 

Conservative Party leadership candidate Boris Johnson leaves his home in London, Britain June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Fervent Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt emerged on Thursday as the only two candidates left in the race to become British prime minister, with the flamboyant Johnson odds-on favourite to win next month.

 

Despite a series of scandals in the past and criticism about his attention to detail, Johnson has dominated the race since Theresa May announced a month ago that she would step down after failing to get her Brexit deal through parliament.

 

About a dozen candidates put their names forward, but In a fifth and final ballot of Conservative lawmakers, which eliminated Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Johnson was again way out in front with 160 out of 313 votes, versus Hunt's 77. One ballot paper was rejected.

 

Whoever wins will have to find a solution to the Brexit turmoil, Britain's biggest political crisis in a generation, which eluded May for three years and ultimately led to her downfall.

 

Known for his mop of blonde hair, Johnson, 55, who served as London mayor for eight years, has cast himself as the only candidate who can deliver Brexit on Oct. 31 while fighting off the electoral threats of Nigel Farage's Brexit Party and socialist Jeremy Corbyn's Labour.

 

Johnson increased his share of the vote of Conservative lawmakers at each of the ballots: 114 out of 313 votes in the first ballot on June 13, 126 on June 18, 143 on Wednesday, and 157 and 160 on Thursday.

 

Gove was third with 75. Interior minister Sajid Javid was knocked out in the fourth round earlier on Thursday.

 

Betting markets gave Johnson a 92 percent probability of becoming prime minister and Hunt just 7 percent.

 

"I look forward to getting out across the UK and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us," Johnson said.

 

Hunt, once an opponent of leaving the European Union who has now promised to exit with a deal, cast himself as the underdog.

 

"In politics surprises happen as they did today," he said. "I do not doubt the responsibility on my shoulders - to show my party how we deliver Brexit and not an election, but also a turbo-charged economy and a country that walks tall in the world."

 

Hustings will be held across the country for the roughly 160,000 Conservative Party grassroots members who will decide on who will be their new leader - and Britain's next prime minister. The result of the postal ballot will be announced in the week of July 22.

 

Johnson has pledged to leave the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal. The EU has said it will not renegotiate the divorce deal that May agreed last year and the British parliament has indicated it will block a no-deal exit.

 

He has not addressed how he will solve that riddle, while Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said before a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday that the bloc was losing patience with Britain and would not consider another delay to the divorce.

 

"If they choose Boris Johnson, he will have to deal with us on the agreement we have done with Theresa May," Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said.

 

PM JOHNSON?

The rise of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson - known as simply "Boris" - to pole position for leading the world's fifth largest economy, is the grandest twist so far in a career that has morphed from journalism via TV-show fame, comedy and scandal into the brinkmanship of Britain's Brexit crisis.

 

Born in New York, Johnson was educated at Eton, Britain's most exclusive school, and at Balliol College, Oxford. He began his career at a management consultancy in the City of London but dropped out after a week.

 

He then turned to journalism but was sacked from The Times newspaper for making up quotes.

 

Hired by The Daily Telegraph, Johnson infuriated European officials and delighted then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by lampooning the European Economic Community establishment with a host of sometimes misleading reports from Brussels.

 

After entering politics, Johnson was sacked from the Conservative Party’s policy team while in opposition for lying about an extra-marital affair.

 

But his charismatic oratory and disarmingly self-deprecating confidence allowed him to survive both gaffes and scandal. He won two terms as London mayor from 2008 to 2016.

 

In 2016, he became one of the most recognisable faces of the Brexit campaign which won the referendum with 52% of the votes cast versus 48% for staying in.

 

His bid to replace former prime minister David Cameron, who resigned after the referendum, was foiled by Gove who pulled out of his campaign saying Johnson was unsuitable for the job.

 

After May won the premiership, she prompted consternation in European capitals by appointingJohnson foreign minister. He resigned in 2018 over May's handling of Brexit.

 

PM HUNT?

Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt, the son of an admiral, was educated at the prestigious fee-paying Charterhouse school before studying philosophy, politics, and economics at Magdalen College, Oxford.

 

After working as an English teacher in Japan, he went on to found an educational publishing firm. He speaks fluent Japanese and has a Chinese wife.

After Johnson resigned as foreign secretary, Hunt, while on a visit to China, accidentally referred to his wife as Japanese.

 

He supported remaining in the EU in the 2016 referendum but has since promised to lead Britain out of the bloc.

 

Hunt says that while he would prefer to leave the EU with a deal, he believes a no-deal exit is better than no Brexit.

 

He was the most senior figure vying to succeed May to reject a threat to leave with no deal by the end of October, saying lawmakers would block any such move.

 

"Any prime minister who promised to leave the EU by a specific date – without the time to renegotiate and pass a new deal – would, in effect, be committing to a general election the moment parliament tried to stop it," he said.

 

"And trying to deliver no deal through a general election is not a solution; it is political suicide.

 

"A different deal is, therefore, the only solution ... That means negotiations that take us out of the customs union while generously respecting legitimate concerns about the Irish border."

 

(Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Stephen Addison)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-21

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[sammieuk1]

So this is how bad as it gets "Hunt Boris" god save the pound pence????

 

[CapraIbex]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He then turned to journalism but was sacked from The Times newspaper for making up quotes.

The Brits deserve who they're vote for!

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"Any prime minister who promised to leave the EU by a specific date – without the time to renegotiate and pass a new deal – would, in effect, be committing to a general election the moment parliament tried to stop it," he said.

This is why Hunt has lost.

Everyone is bloody tired of this remainer nonsense, there is no deal the EU will ever accept, apart from staying.

When the UK leaves, the EU will be broke, unless you believe Germany can finance the whole boondoggle on it's own.

Edited June 21, 2019 by BritManToo

[Chomper Higgot]

24 minutes ago, CapraIbex said:

The Brits deserve who they're vote for!

In all fairness, he the incoming PM is not elected to the post by by the public.

[Chomper Higgot]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

This is why Hunt has lost.

Everyone is bloody tired of this remainer nonsense, there is no deal the EU will accept, apart from staying.

Patently wrong on two fronts:

 

There is already a deal agreed with Europe.

 

Who gets the PM job is far from decided by everybody.

[welovesundaysatspace]

It doesn’t matter what names is on No 10. Any new PM will face exactly the same issues as May and any other PM: No parliamentary majority for any of the options on the table. And if a new PM really would be able (and willing) to bypass parliament to crash out without a deal — I doubt it. 

[elliss]

54 minutes ago, CapraIbex said:

The Brits deserve who they're vote for!

 

              Be  careful , what you wish for..

 

 

 

[elliss]

31 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

In all fairness, he the incoming PM is not elected to the post by by the public.

      That would be un-democratic , sound good to me..

 

[evadgib]

43 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

In all fairness, he the incoming PM is not elected to the post by by the public.

Under existing rules whether we like it or not, as did May and Broon.

[evadgib]

33 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

It doesn’t matter what names is on No 10. Any new PM will face exactly the same issues as May and any other PM: No parliamentary majority for any of the options on the table. And if a new PM really would be able (and willing) to bypass parliament to crash out without a deal — I doubt it. 

'No deal' is the default position and any tampering with the date will hasten the arrival of Farage & the Brexit party.

I don't like what's happening but as far as I am concerned there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Chomper Higgot]

12 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Under existing rules whether we like it or not, as did May and Broon.

Shall we go back and see what Johnson had to say about Brown becoming PM without a general election or shall we let that bit of two faced hypocrisy pass?!

[JonnyF]

44 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

It doesn’t matter what names is on No 10. Any new PM will face exactly the same issues as May and any other PM: No parliamentary majority for any of the options on the table. And if a new PM really would be able (and willing) to bypass parliament to crash out without a deal — I doubt it. 

I think it will really come down to whether Tory Remainers are prepared to bring down their own government to prevent No Deal. 

 

They say they will now of course, but when it comes down to it and they risk losing their seats and most likely their political careers, potentially destroying the Conservative party, not to mention the very high risk that the Marxist Corbyn (second referendum which they might lose again) or Farage (No Deal Brexit anyway) will end up in number 10, I believe they will bottle it.

[mercman24]

think back, Treason MAY started all of this,  calling an election when there was no need, and it came back to bite her ass, and her 3 years of bloody dithering, bringing to the table the same prospectus, must have been  brain dead, i ask you, would any sane one of you do this, like *hello, its the same as last time* (for the third dam time) didnt you get the message the first time, this idiot has got a lot to answer for. the worst PM in history, and i am counting that war monger Tony Blair

Edited June 21, 2019 by Rimmer

[Chomper Higgot]

10 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I think it will really come down to whether Tory Remainers are prepared to bring down their own government to prevent No Deal. 

 

They say they will now of course, but when it comes down to it and they risk losing their seats and most likely their political careers, potentially destroying the Conservative party, not to mention the very high risk that the Marxist Corbyn (second referendum which they might lose again) or Farage (No Deal Brexit anyway) will end up in number 10, I believe they will bottle it.

You are aware the Tories do not have a majority?

[evadgib]

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Shall we go back and see what Johnson had to say about Brown becoming PM without a general election or shall we let that bit of two faced hypocrisy pass?!

Yes, Please do and be sure to explain who 'We' are while you're at it so that the board knows once and for all what position you're trolling from.

[JonnyF]

9 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

think back, Treason MAY started all of this, the cocky bitch calling an election when there was no need, and it came back to bite her ass, and her 3 years of bloody dithering, bringing to the table the same prospectus, must have been  brain dead, i ask you, would any sane one of you do this, like *hello, its the same as last time* (for the third dam time) didnt you get the message the first time, this idiot has got a lot to answer for. the worst PM in history, and i am counting that war monger Tony Blair

On the bright side, think of the damage the fool could have done if she was smart enough to have kept the majority that she was gifted with.

 

Her ridiculous decision simply tied her hands behind her back, stopped her getting her surrender treaty through and ultimately led to her demise. Silver linings and all that.

[thaibeachlovers]

I'm for Boris. Hunt is an unknown quantity for me, and British politics has become too serious by far. 

We need a clown in charge of the place to add some levity. I doubt if anyone could actually fix the problems, so at least it might add some humour as HMS Britain sinks below the waves, a bit like the orchestra playing as Titanic sank.

I suppose it's asking a bit much to expect him to enter parliament in an actual clown car wearing a big red nose,  but I can dream, can't I?

[thaibeachlovers]

13 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

think back, Treason MAY started all of this,  calling an election when there was no need, and it came back to bite her ass, and her 3 years of bloody dithering, bringing to the table the same prospectus, must have been  brain dead, i ask you, would any sane one of you do this, like *hello, its the same as last time* (for the third dam time) didnt you get the message the first time, this idiot has got a lot to answer for. the worst PM in history, and i am counting that war monger Tony Blair

Worst PM in my memory would be Brown, but he was doomed before he even started, having wasted 6 billion on the NHS.

It does irk me though, that someone like May can cock it up so badly, and then just walk away into the sunset without consequences. At least they should have been able to drag her out to tar and feather her.

[newatthis]

12 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

think back, Treason MAY started all of this,  calling an election when there was no need, and it came back to bite her ass, and her 3 years of bloody dithering, bringing to the table the same prospectus, must have been  brain dead, i ask you, would any sane one of you do this, like *hello, its the same as last time* (for the third dam time) didnt you get the message the first time, this idiot has got a lot to answer for. the worst PM in history, and i am counting that war monger Tony Blair

True, she had no intention of negotiating a Brexit. She was a Remainer through and through. That's how she achieved the Prime Ministership because the politicians knew that they count on her to stuff up Brexit.

And Jeremy Hunt will be exactly the same as May no matter his fancy words. Brexiters--don't trust him as far as you can spit.

[JonnyF]

17 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You are aware the Tories do not have a majority?

Fortunately it's not that simple.

[Chomper Higgot]

58 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Yes, Please do and be sure to explain who 'We' are while you're at it so that the board knows once and for all what position you're trolling from.

WE are taking part in this discussion.

 

If you have a problem with me posting in this thread or believe I am trolling, take it to the moderators.

 

Meanwhile, Johnson’s comments on Brown’s elevation to PM are a matter of public record and serve well to illustrate his two faced hypocrisy.

 

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/06/without-mandate-british-people-how-boris-johnson-described-gordon-brown-2007

[Chomper Higgot]

42 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Fortunately it's not that simple.

Perhaps Johnson has another £1.3 Billion of tax payers money with which to by more ‘Supply and Confidence’ from the DUP.

[Chomper Higgot]

53 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Worst PM in my memory would be Brown, but he was doomed before he even started, having wasted 6 billion on the NHS.

It does irk me though, that someone like May can cock it up so badly, and then just walk away into the sunset without consequences. At least they should have been able to drag her out to tar and feather her.

And let the Brexiteers who promoted and voted for this unicorn hunt off the hook?!

 

TM was allowed to step off the ‘glass cliff’ because no Brexiteer wanted the job.

[sammieuk1]

On paper I if I could would vote for Boris now as his policies on uniting the country surely mean a division of wealth and a free TV licence for the oldies  don't they ????

Edited June 21, 2019 by sammieuk1

[evadgib]

32 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

WE are taking part in this discussion.

 

If you have a problem with me posting in this thread or believe I am trolling, take it to the moderators.

 

Meanwhile, Johnson’s comments on Brown’s elevation to PM are a matter of public record and serve well to illustrate his two faced hypocrisy.

 

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/06/without-mandate-british-people-how-boris-johnson-described-gordon-brown-2007

The post said no more of you than you routinely levy in the direction of others, especially if they dared vote or are otherwise in favour of leaving the EU.

[ballpoint]

Seems strange that a country that purports to want to leave the EU because it is undemocratic will rely on the votes of around 120,000 people to elect its next leader.

[Chomper Higgot]

11 minutes ago, evadgib said:

The post said no more of you than you routinely levy in the direction of others, especially if they dared vote or are otherwise in favour of leaving the EU.

It seems to have evaded you, I’m not the topic of this thread.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Perhaps Johnson has another £1.3 Billion of tax payers money with which to by more ‘Supply and Confidence’ from the DUP.

Well have a Chomp on this ????  Currently, the default position is that the UK will leave the EU on 31 October.

So if nothing changes, Brexit will happen regardless of whether there is a deal or not.

To change this, you have to change the law.

The government controls the timetable in Parliament, so the new PM could avoid opportunities for Parliament to force their hand, just by doing nothing as no doubt Boris will do.

People forget our Queen can deliver the peoples democratic vote for UK to leave EU although this can be avoided by Boris doing above.   

[evadgib]

22 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It seems to have evaded you, I’m not the topic of this thread.

Lol, a 'Ficker than us' reinforcing my point ????

Please put me on your iggy list and refrain from serially stamping my posts if you want to be left alone.