Former British secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs Boris Johnson, who helped lead the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign, yesterday continued his progress toward the top job when he trounced his rivals again in the race to succeed British Prime Minister Theresa May.
In a fourth ballot of Conservative Party lawmakers, which eliminated British Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Johnson was again way out in front of his rivals. The result of a fifth and final ballot was due at 6pm in London yesterday.
Johnson, who served as London mayor for eight years, has cast himself as the only candidate who can deliver Brexit on Oct. 31 while fighting off the electoral threats of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.
Photo: AFP
Despite a series of scandals in the past and criticism about his attention to detail, Johnson has dominated the race since May announced that she would step down after repeatedly failing to get her Brexit deal ratified by parliament.
Johnson, 55, has increased his share of the vote of Conservative lawmakers at each of the four ballots so far: 114 out of 313 votes in the first ballot on Thursday last week; 126 on Tuesday; 143 on Wednesday and 157 yesterday.
British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove was second with 61 votes and British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt was third with 59. Javid got 34.
After the final lawmakers’ ballot leaves just two candidates remaining, about 160,000 Conservative Party grassroots members are to vote on who will be their leader — and Britain’s next prime minister — by the end of next month.
Bookmakers give Johnson an 89 percent probability of winning.
Johnson has pledged to leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal. The EU has said it will not renegotiate the divorce deal that May agreed last year and the British parliament has indicated it would block a no-deal exit.
He has not addressed how he would solve that riddle.
The rise of Johnson, cast by many as simply “Boris,” to pole position for leading the world’s fifth-largest economy is the grandest twist so far in a career that has morphed from journalism via TV show fame, comedy and scandal into the brinkmanship of the Brexit crisis.
He began his career at a management consultancy in London, but dropped out after a week.
He then turned to journalism, but was sacked from the Times for making up quotes.
Hired by the Daily Telegraph, Johnson infuriated European officials and delighted then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher by lampooning the European Economic Community establishment with a host of sometimes misleading reports from Brussels.
After entering politics, he was sacked from the Conservative Party’s policy team while in opposition for lying about an extra-marital affair, but his sometimes shambolic personal appearance and disarmingly self-deprecating confidence allowed him to survive both gaffes and scandal.
He won two terms as London mayor from 2008 to 2016.
In 2016, he became one of the most recognizable faces of the Brexit campaign which won the referendum with 52 percent of the votes cast versus 48 percent for staying in.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
RSS