Johnson, Leadsom, Davis and Fox all campaigned for Britain’s exit from the European Union unlike May.
Advertisement
Steinmeier told ZDF television Thursday evening: “Boris Johnson is a shrewd politician, experienced enough – he knows that he faces different tasks now”.
Whenever she happens to be near a microphone, Theresa May tends to say – absolutely truthfully it appears – that she just wants to “get on with the job”.
The former London mayor is popular in Britain and well-known overseas – not least for a colourful use of language regularly directed at foreigners, including White House hopeful Hillary Clinton and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
While Gove and Osborne crashed out, Johnson landed on his feet, being named foreign minister in one of May’s first choices, which stunned observers at home and overseas.
French Foreign Minister Ayrault was blunt: “I am not at all anxious about Boris Johnson, but. during the campaign he lied a lot to the British people and now it is he who has his back against the wall”.
During the referendum campaign, he compared the EU’s ambitions for closer integration to Hitler’s plans to rule the continent.
Ayrault also predicted that Johnson has an uphill struggle ahead of him remarking that “now it’s him with his back against the wall to defend his country and to clarify his relationship with Europe”.
A major casualty was former London Mayor Boris Johnson who had been one of the leaders of the campaign for Britain’s exit (Brexit) from the EU.
The “special relationship” between the two countries “transcends any single personality”, he said.
The Times said Britain was at a “turning point”, with its wealth, stability and identity all at stake.
The biggest surprise is the appointment of Boris Johnson, the Tory members’ darling, as the foreign secretary – one of the greatest offices of state, with a hugely different role as the United Kingdom contemplates life outside the EU. Asked what he expected of working with Johnson, given such comments, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said – to laughter – “you see that it’s an advantage not to have such a great command of the English language”.
The foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party in Parliament said that many current British suggestions for future relations with the European Union were “unworkable”.
“We think it is critical that negotiations take place in a pragmatic, transparent and smooth manner where both sides demonstrate flexibility in order to produce results that are the right outcome”, he said.
Lew added said he has been “encouraged that there have been very pragmatic views expressed” in his meetings in Europe. He said he was “humbled” at his appointment – his first ever ministerial post.
Britain’s new education secretary, Justine Greening, leaves Number 10 Downing Street in London, Britain July 14, 2016.
May’s swift dismissal of finance minister Osborne was a firm break with Cameron’s administration.
May made Johnson her new foreign secretary late Wednesday, in another surprise move.
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. “That’s how, together, we will build a better Britain”, she said.
“It doesn’t get her out of the responsibility for whatever happens with Brexit, but she’s at least dipped their hands in the blood”, said politics professor Tim Bale from University of London.
She began to announce members of her cabinet Wednesday evening.
Schulz was alluding to Cameron’s decision to call the June 23 referendum on Britain’s European Union membership – in which people voted to leave – in order to settle a dispute with the eurosceptic wing of party.
Former justice minister Gove, who ran against May for the Conservative Party leadership, is among a handful of heavyweights to leave the government.
Speaking to reporters outside the Foreign Office, Johnson had earlier shrugged off the idea that his appointment was controversial. Other cabinet members Oliver Letwin, John Whittingdale, and Nicky Morgan also left.
Britain’s new Prime Minister Theresa May showed several of her former cabinet colleagues the door Thursday, including top Brexit campaigner Michael Gove, while fellow “Leave” supporter Boris Johnson was crowned top diplomat. He said he would meet with Mark Carney, the head of the Bank of England, on Thursday to “assess where we are”.
Hammond offered calming tones to the markets and the public in a series of interviews the morning after taking office.
Advertisement
Hammond acknowledged that the Brexit vote has had “a chilling effect” on investment, saying the main “challenge is to stabilise the economy, [and] send signals of confidence about the future”.
