Boris Johnson entered Downing Street on Wednesday and embarked on a remarkable bout of political bloodletting, as he created a hardcore team of Brexiters determined to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 and primed for an early election.
Mr Johnson ripped apart Theresa May’s former cabinet — 15 senior ministers were sacked or resigned before they were axed — as he declared war on “the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters”.
Standing on the steps of Downing Street he said “no ifs or buts” Britain would leave the EU in 99 days’ time and carried out a cabinet clear-out that made Harold Macmillan’s 1962 “Night of the Long Knives” seem modest by comparison.
In a defiant and brutal speech outside Number 10, Mr Johnson did not even mention Mrs May by name, but lambasted her for her indecision. “After three years of unfounded self-doubt, it is time to change the record,” he said.
The new cabinet line up includes Dominic Raab, new foreign secretary and de facto deputy prime minister, who has advocated suspending parliament to deliver a no-deal exit, and Priti Patel, a hardcore Brexiter who becomes home secretary. Andrea Leadsom, another Eurosceptic, becomes business secretary, and European Research Group stalwart Jacob Rees-Mogg will be Leader of the House of Commons in charge of the business put before MPs.
Michael Gove, the leading Brexiter, takes on a fixer role in the Cabinet Office, while Mr Johnson appointed the controversial Dominic Cummings — mastermind of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign — as a chief adviser.
Sajid Javid, who succeeds Philip Hammond as chancellor, is the only former Remainer at the top of the new government; he has the job of pumping money into the economy to prepare for the possible shock of a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson promised Brexit with or without a deal, claiming that the EU would eventually relent and remove the “anti-democratic backstop” that aims to avoid a hard border in Ireland by keeping the whole UK in a temporary customs union.
Mr Johnson is expected to make a statement to the House of Commons, setting out his plans for government, on Thursday, the last day before MPs break for their summer recess.
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar shot down Mr Johnson’s claim that the UK could agree a new deal with the EU that would see the Irish backstop removed, saying any idea that Brussels was willing to do so was “totally not in the real world”.
If Mr Johnson’s idea of a deal is rejected in Brussels, he could find his alternative plan of a no-deal exit blocked in parliament; Philip Hammond, who quit as chancellor hours before Mrs May left office, will lead the resistance.
Many Conservative MPs believe Mr Johnson is now heading inexorably towards an early general election and that he is gathering a team of campaigners — led by Mr Cummings — to fight such a contest. Some MPs believe it could happen this autumn.
Keith Simpson, a veteran Conservative MP, said he feared Mr Johnson would fight an election seeking a mandate for a no-deal exit. “He will try to go for no-deal,” he said.
Mr Johnson’s reshuffle now creates even more potential enemies on the Conservative backbenches, with 30 or more Tory MPs threatening to block a no-deal exit.
Among those to quit were foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who refused to take a demotion to defence secretary, and deputy prime minister David Lidington. Trade secretary Liam Fox, defence secretary Penny Mordaunt, and business secretary Greg Clark were among those sacked.
Donald Tusk, the European Council president, congratulated Mr Johnson but made a barbed dig at the new prime minister’s notorious lack of interest in the minutiae of EU negotiations. “I look forward to meeting you to discuss — in detail — our co-operation,” he wrote.
One EU diplomat said: “Though we wish him well, it is difficult to see how Boris can get down the Brexit tree he so energetically climbed up. One thing is very clear: if the prime minister continues to climb upwards, he will lead the UK into a devastating no-deal Brexit on October 31.”
However, Mr Johnson made a point in his speech of going beyond Brexit, making ambitious policy commitments. They included a pledge to cut waiting times for appointments with doctors, hire 20,000 new police officers, solve problems over funding social care for older people, and increase funding for schools.
Mr Johnson gave his speech shortly after returning from Buckingham Palace, where the Queen invited him to take over as prime minister. Mrs May had earlier gone to the Palace, after a final prime minister’s question time, to submit her resignation.
Additional reporting by Jim Brunsden in Brussels
