“With his new responsibilities we are expecting a more positive attitude from Mr. Johnson”, said the official of the new British minister, who had a Turkish great-grandfather.
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Just two weeks ago his new boss, Mrs May, said: “I seem to remember the last time he did a deal with the Germans, he came back with three nearly-new water cannon”.
He shrugged off criticism from his European peers, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who accused him of having “lied a lot” during the Brexit campaign.
Davis, 67, a strong supporter of Brexit, has said Britain should take its time before formally starting the divorce process by triggering Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.
Asked for a response to Mr Ayrault’s remarks, and his own record of undiplomatic comments, Mr Johnson said it was “inevitable that there would be a certain amount of plaster coming off the ceilings in the Chancelleries of Europe” after Britain’s Brexit vote, and they were “making their views known in a free and frank way”.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called Johnson, and both “agreed that the US-UK special relationship is as essential as ever”, said the State Department.
“It is not without risks”, said Christopher Meyer, a former British ambassador to the United States.
His predecessor in the job was Philip Hammond, who was named finance minister on Wednesday.
Johnson actively campaign for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union – May was a Remainer – and backed her rival to be Conservative Party leader.
May campaigned for the leadership as a safe pair of hands, after spending six years as home secretary, one of the toughest jobs in British politics.
Women also made gains under Britain’s second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. Several senior figures in the former government of David Cameron have been fired as May puts her stamp on the government. “On this evidence, Theresa May will be prime minister for as long as she wants”.
But completely different political tasks now stand at the forefront, he told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Steinmeier said that “Britain remains an important partner” with which Germany must work at the U.N., NATO, in the Group of Seven and in efforts to end Syria’s civil war.
Hammond is said to have great obstacles as chancellor due to economic growth being widely thought to be jeopardised by the uncertainty created in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Writing about then Tony Blair’s globetrotting ahead of a visit by the then prime minister to Africa in 2002, Johnson said he would be hailed by “flag-waving piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”.
Davis, another leading Vote Leave campaigner, will be the new secretary of state for exiting the European Union.
Critics of the former Mayor of London have been quick to recall some of his more memorable gaffes and controversies.
See below for our up-to-date list of who’s in and out.
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Simon McDonald, Under-Secretary of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, tweeted a picture of Mr Johnson’s first meeting with staff as Foreign Secretary on Thursday.
