The appointment of leading Brexit campaigner and former leadership rival Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary shocked Westminster.
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The announcement comes less than two hours after Mrs May succeeded David Cameron in No 10 with a promise to create “a country that works for everyone”. But his appointment as foreign secretary caused some consternation around the world. The former mayor of London is internationally famous – but for rumpled eccentricity and distinctly undiplomatic gaffes, rather than statesmanlike behavior.
Jean-Marc Ayrault gave an unusually frank interview with the popular Europe-1 radio network Thursday following the news that Johnson will hold the top diplomatic post in new British Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet.
The U.S.-born, part-Turkish Johnson said Britain was quitting the European Union but “that does not mean in any sense leaving Europe”.
Some said Johnson might surprise his many critics. May has given him the chance to live up to his potential – or to fail spectacularly.
President Barack Obama has called new British Prime Minister Theresa May to congratulate her.
Britain’s new Treasury chief pledged Thursday there will be no emergency national budget – even though there are questions marks hanging over the economy following the country’s decision to leave the European Union. He will lead a new department charged with the complex work of divorcing Britain from the bloc yet forging a new relationship with it.
The libertarian Davis – a former special forces reservist who boasts that he has broken his nose five times – has sparred with May for years over the powers of Britain’s spy agencies, which she oversaw as home secretary and he thinks are too intrusive. He angered and frustrated many Britons who voted to remain, along with other European leaders who believe Britain made a great mistake.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says he would like negotiations on Britain’s exit from the European Union to produce a “highly integrated relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU”.
But EU leaders have made clear that free movement is a fundamental principle that goes hand-in-hand with access to the bloc’s tariff-free single market, a stance that will hugely complicate May’s task in hammering out new terms of trade.
Stock markets traded within sight of their highest levels of the year as the prospect of stimulative economic policy across the developed world eased immediate concerns over the impact of the Brexit vote.
She has unveiled the first tranche of her front bench this evening, with the rest due to be announced over the next few days.
He added: “The number one challenge is to stabilise the economy, send signals of confidence about the future, the plans we have for the future, to the markets, to businesses, to worldwide investors”.
“Britain is open for business”, he said.
“Certainly, we have always been waiting to turn over what is not the best page in the book of Russian-British relations”, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing.
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Hammond acknowledged that investment in Britain had been shaken since the referendum result.
