Boris Johnson wins race to become UK's next prime minister
Claiming victory in two-man race to lead ruling Conservative Party, former London mayor who has pledged to leave the EU with or wthout a Brexit deal vows to unite the country
Brexit hardliner Boris Johnson won the contest to lead Britain's governing Conservative Party on Tuesday and will become the country's next prime minister, tasked with fulfilling his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union "come what may."
He defeated his rival Jeremy Hunt overwhelmingly in a vote of Conservative Party members.
He will be installed as prime minister in a formal handover from Theresa May on Wednesday.
The victory is a triumph for 55-year-old Johnson, an ambitious but erratic politician whose political career has veered between periods in high office and spells on the sidelines.
Johnson has vowed that Britain will quit the European Union on the scheduled date of Oct. 31 even if it means leaving without a divorce deal
But he faces a rocky ride from a Parliament determined to prevent him from taking the U.K. out of the 28-nation bloc without a withdrawal agreement.
Several Conservative ministers have already announced they will resign to fight any push for a "no-deal" Brexit, an outcome economists warn would disrupt trade and plunge the U.K. into recession.
In his victory speech from London, Johnson vowed to unite the country.
"Like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy-ropes of self-doubt and negativity with better education, better infrastructure, more police, fantastic full-fibre broadband sprouting in every household," he said. "We are going to unite this amazing country and we are going to take it forward."
Fears that Britain is inching closer to a "no-deal" Brexit weighed on the pound once again Tuesday.
Before the announcement, the currency was down another 0.3 percent at $1.2441 and near two-year lows.
May stepped down after Britain's Parliament repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with the 28-nation bloc.
Johnson insists he can get the EU to renegotiate -- something the bloc insists it will not do.
If not, he says Britain must leave the EU on Halloween, "do or die."
