After vowing to unite the Tory party, Boris Johnson last night axed opponents of a no-deal from his Cabinet and handed the top posts to hardline Brexiteers.
And he swept into No10 vowing to get a fresh deal over our exit from the EU, despite Brussels insisting they would not budge on the agreement they struck with Theresa May .
After a rambling speech full of promises to the poor, the NHS, schools and on reducing crime, without any hint of where the cash would come from, Mr Johnson then embarked on his night of the long knives by showing much of Mrs May’s Cabinet the door.
Out went the likes of his leadership rival Jeremy Hunt , Britain’s first female Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Trade Secretary Liam Fox and hapless Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
While in came Brexiteers Sajid Javid as Chancellor to replace Philip Hammond – who earlier quit along with Deputy PM David Lidington – Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary and Priti Patel as Home Secretary.
(Image: PA)
Mr Johnson sacked 11 ministers while another six walked before they were pushed.
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: “ Boris Johnson ’s first act as PM has been to appoint a cabinet of hardline conservatives who will only represent the privileged few.
“This out-of-touch Cabinet pushed for nine years of damaging austerity, while demanding tax cuts for the super-rich and big corporations.”
Mr Johnson, whose career has been littered with gaffes, racism, homophobia, lies and U-turns, showed no sign of letting up on the blunders after he met the Queen.
He broke convention by talking about his private chat with Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace, in which he claimed she told him: “I don’t know why anyone would want the job.”
He was immediately told off by a No10 aide who suggested he should not repeat these things so loudly.
Behind the PM and the Queen could be seen a £550 fan made by Brexiteer poster boy James Dyson’s firm – much of which has moved abroad.
(Image: SWNS)
Earlier, Mr Johnson’s route to the Palace was briefly blocked by climate protesters. During his speech, while he was being heckled from outside the gates of Downing Street, girlfriend Carrie Symonds looked on as he pledged to deliver Brexit by October 31 “no ifs or buts”.
He said of his plans to get a new deal with the EU: “I have every confidence that in 99 days’ time we will have cracked it but you know what, we aren’t going to wait 99 days because the British people have had enough of waiting. The time has come to act.”
And despite all the evidence, Mr Johnson insisted it was just a “remote possibility” that he would fail to get a new deal.
He said he was “convinced” a solution could be found to the Irish border that did not involve checks or require the “anti-democratic backstop”, the main stumbling block in reaching a Brexit deal.
Mr Johnson added: “It is of course vital at the same time that we prepare for the remote possibility that Brussels refuses any further to negotiate and we are forced to come out with no deal.
“Not because we want that outcome, of course not, but because it is only common sense to prepare.”
(Image: WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/REX)
In the face of claims Mr Johnson is not up to the job he insisted he would give Britain “the leadership it deserves”. He also appointed Vote Leave chief Dominic Cummings, one of the most controversial figures of the whole campaign, as senior No10 adviser. The decision indicates he is planning a radical departure from Mrs May’s Brexit policy.
In words that will not be forgotten by opponents of no-deal, Mr Johnson put his job on the line by saying the “buck stops with me”. But his axed ministers and those who quit now pose a serious threat to his no-deal plans, as he has a technical majority of just two to vote things through.
Mr Johnson went on to boast about how he would “unleash the productive power of every corner of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland”. He also bragged about “democracy”, despite being voted in as leader of the Tory party by members that make up 0.2% of the population.
And in another pop at critics of no-deal and more evidence he was relying on optimism rather than hard facts, he said: “The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong again.”
After being appointed PM, Mr Johnson would have taken phone calls from leaders around the globe. And the man many have labelled a buffoon for his blustering style, now has access to the nuclear codes. One of his first tasks will be to write a letter of last resort, which is carried on board each of Britain’s nuclear submarines.
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They give instructions on what the crew should do in the event Britain is destroyed and they lose contact with London as a result.
One of the first problems he will have to deal with is the crisis in the Gulf where tensions between Iran and the West are escalating over the seizure of oil tankers.
But despite Mr Johnson’s new responsibilities, his closest allies admit that he might be out of a job within months, making him the UK’s shortest-serving PM.
