Boris Johnson, the Brexiteer who has promised to lead Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal by the end of October, has officially become the country's prime minister, replacing Theresa May after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party Tuesday.
RELATED:
However, many of his country's fellow people did not seem too happy about it, taking to social media and starting a viral hashtag on Twitter, namely, #NotMyPM in protest of his appointment.
His appointment, praised by his right-wing counterparts like the U.S. President Donald Trump, was not received fondly. Netizens started took to Twitter to share their views using the hashtag #NotMyPM.
He won the votes of 92,153 members of the Conservative party, almost twice as many as the 46,656 won by his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Johnson is a staunch right-wing pro-Brexit leader. "We are going to get Brexit done on Oct. 31, and we are going to take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring in a new spirit of 'can do'," Johnson, 55, said after the result was announced. "Like some slumbering giant, we are going to rise and ping off the guy-ropes of self-doubt and negativity."
He said the mantra of his leadership campaign had been to "deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat (opposition Labour leader) Jeremy Corbyn - and that is what we are going to do".
Corbyn was quick to criticize the new prime minister saying, “Boris Johnson has won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members by promising tax cuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers' friend, and pushing for a damaging No Deal Brexit. But he hasn't won the support of our country.”
The Green Party Member of European Parliament Magid Mah wrote on Twitter, “You ain't got no mandate, DUDE! Your two-faced Trump-approved politics won't last. We need a leader with vision and integrity who points to a future where nobody is excluded. Boris Johnson isn't that leader- he's a stone-cold opportunist and a liar.”
The rise of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, often referred to as simply "Boris", to the top of British politics is the grandest twist so far in a career that has taken him from journalism via TV-show fame, comedy and scandal into the political brinkmanship of Britain’s Brexit crisis.
After entering politics, he was sacked from the Conservative Party’s policy team while in opposition for lying about an extramarital affair.
In 2016, Johnson became one of the most recognisable faces of the Brexit campaign, which won the referendum by 52% to 48%, but faced accusations of making misleading claims to win support, most notably by stating that Britain would be 350 million pounds ($440 million) a week better off outside the EU.