Johnson was a prominent leader of the successful referendum campaign to take Britain out of the European Union who harbored his own leadership hopes, making him a factor for Prime Minister Theresa May to deal with as she tries to unify the sharply divided Conservative Party behind her. “He lied a lot to the British people”, Ayrault told Radio Europe 1.
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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (pic) has welcomed Boris Johnson as the new British foreign secretary.
That means, for better or worse, Johnson is suddenly the minister responsible for the activities of MI6 and GCHQ while also having to represent the United Kingdom in its numerous dealings overseas.
He’s insulted everyone from the president of the United States to the people of Papua New Guinea.
The cable reads: “Conservative candidate Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s successful candidacy for the mayor of London has defied the laws of political gravity”.
Lawmakers from Britain’s opposition Labour Party reacted furiously, calling the comments “dog-whistle racism”, saying Johnson was a “moron” and accusing him of espousing “the worst Tea Party rhetoric”.
Johnson is not a popular figure among European foreign ministers.
Mr Johnson recently won a magazine competition to write the most offensive poem about Turkey’s Erdogan, and once described Mrs Clinton as “a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.
“The appointment of the new foreign secretary must be the most remarkable since the Emperor Caligula appointed his horse as a senator”.
Former energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd has been promoted in May’s new Cabinet as home secretary, the portfolio previously held by May herself, with Eurosceptic David Davis being made in charge of a brand new department for Exiting the European Union and being dubbed “Brexit minister”.
The White House says he told May on Thursday that the USA was committed to deepening the US relationship with the U.K. Obama told her he looks forward to working with her during his final six months in office.
After the June 23 vote to leave EU, Johnson took time off to play cricket and spurned a chance to stand as PM.
Speaking just before Johnson was appointed, Steinmeier said: “It is bitter for Britain”. He was a key campaigner for Britain to leave the EU.
A former Brussels journalist and mayor of London, Johnson cultivates a clownish public image but also caused deep offense in the European Union during the referendum campaign by comparing its aims to unify Europe to those of Adolf Hitler.
“What looks like a promotion could in fact be a poisoned chalice”, the left-leaning paper said, adding that “the real negotiations on the Brexit will be managed by a specially created ministry and by the prime minister’s cabinet”.
“I wish it was a joke but I fear it isn’t”, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted at the news of Johnson’s appointment.
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“We can’t afford a long period of uncertainty”, he said.
