Carl Bildt, the former Swedish Prime Minister, said he wished Mr Johnson’s appointment was a “joke”, while Pavel Telicka, the Czech Republic MEP, said the appointment showed Mrs May’s amusing side.
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Theresa May has entered Downing Street with a promise to address the country’s deep divisions, ruling not “for the privileged few” but for people who felt they were losing control of their lives. Current Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has kept his job. She is now MP for Maidenhead.
He had been considered the frontrunner to become prime minister himself, before being sidelined by moves against him within the ruling Conservative Party.
Speculation had been rife over whether Johnson would be given a role at all, given his spectacular and enforced retreat from the Tory leadership race, days after leading the Leave campaign to European Union referendum victory.
Germany’s finance minister is signaling a willingness to forget past statements by Boris Johnson, Britain’s new foreign secretary.
Global relations expert at Otago University Robert Patman told Larry Williams Theresa May’s appointment of Johnson to foreign secretary could come back to bite her in the not too distant future.
Hours after May appointed him in an apparent effort to heal rifts in her Conservative party, France’s foreign minister called Johnson a liar and the German foreign minister described Johnson’s behaviour as “outrageous”. He had most recently served as foreign secretary under Cameron for two years but was shadow chief secretary to the Treasury between 2007 and 2010.
However, he will have to handle some of the most complex and explosive diplomatic crises around the world, from Syria to Ukraine.
She also paid tribute to her predecessor, David Cameron, saying he had been a “great, modern prime minister”. In that sense, she shares little more with Margaret Thatcher than gender.
Prime Minister David Cameron leaves 10 Downing St for the last time, with his wife Samantha.
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May is something of an unknown quantity internationally, but European Council president Donald Tusk said he looked forward to a “fruitful working relationship” with her. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for “constructive dialogue” with Britain’s new premier, while White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that USA officials who had worked with May “found her to be quite effective”.
