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| Trump congratulates Boris Johnson, saying he will be 'great' as UK's next PM – live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The European parliament’s Brexit steering group will hold a meeting tomorrow with Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, to discuss the implications of Boris Johnson’s election, Guy Verhofstadt, the parliament’s lead Brexit spokesman, says. | |
| The @Europarl_EN’s Brexit Steering Group will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow with @michelBarnier to respond to @BorisJohnson's election. The meeting will be followed by an official communication. Looking forward to defending the interest of all Europeans. #Brexit | |
| Tobias Ellwood, the defence minister who has been very critical of the idea of accepting a no-deal Brexit as an acceptable outcome, is not planning to resign, and has urged colleagues to support Boris Johnson. “It’s a duty of every MP to support the prime minister right now,” he told the Press Association. | |
| Boris Johnson has tweeted this message following his election as Tory leader. | |
| Thank you all for the incredible honour you have done me. The time for campaigning is over and the time for work begins to unite our country and party, deliver Brexit and defeat Corbyn. I will work flat out to repay your confidence | |
| And Jeremy Hunt has sent this message to the man who beat him. | |
| Congratulations @BorisJohnson 4 a campaign well https://t.co/b1rmrIHic6'll be a great PM for our country at this critical moment!Throughout campaign you showed optimism,energy & unbounded confidence in our wonderful country & we need that.All best wishes from the entrepreneur :-) | |
| Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, says she has “profound concerns” about Boris Johnson’s election, and demands that he take the threat of a no-deal Brexit off the table immediately. | |
| I congratulate Boris Johnson on his election as Tory leader and I will do everything possible to ensure that he respects Scotland’s views and interests. However, I have profound concerns about the prospect of his premiership and it would be hypocritical not to be frank about these. These are concerns that I am certain will be shared by the vast majority of people in Scotland who, had they been given any say, would not have chosen to hand the keys of No 10 to someone with his views and track record. | |
| Brexit of any kind would be deeply damaging to Scotland and the rest of the UK, but his public pledge to leave the EU by 31 October – ‘come what may’ and ‘do or die’ – flies in the face of logic, common sense or any basic regard for the wellbeing of the people and nations of the UK. | |
| It is a deeply irresponsible threat, and not one that should be contemplated by any serious political leader. It should now be taken off the table without delay or equivocation. | |
| Sturgeon pledged that her Scottish government would be “at the forefront of all and any moves to stop Brexit and block a no-deal Brexit, as will SNP MPs in the House of Commons”, adding that these efforts were supported across the political spectrum. | |
| Theresa May has chaired her last cabinet, and from the sound of things it was a very much an end-of-term affair, focused on praising her record and then handing over parting gifts. | |
| The meeting discussed funding for the NHS and how to tackle May’s much-mentioned “burning injustices”, such as access to mental health treatment, her spokesman said, and generally agreed that she had done a great job on housebuilding, employment and the economy. | |
| “The PM thanked the cabinet for all they had done during her premiership, which she said had done much to improve people’s lives,” her spokesman said. She also thanked No 10 advisers and the civil service. | |
| Then May’s de facto deputy, David Lidington, thanked her “for her great dedicated to public service, and her commitment to the union”, the spokesman said. | |
| Finally, it was over to Michael Gove, the environment secretary, who handed over presents paid for by a cabinet whip-round – a black Liberty handbag and a crystal necklace by the French company Lalique. | |
| May’s spokesman was pressed on precisely what bag it was, and gamely spent some time looking at the Liberty website on his phone to see if he could recognise it, but that detail will have to come later. | |
| Outside the Queen Elizabeth II centre in Westminster, about 100 pro-Brexit and pro-EU protesters were gathered alongside members of the press waiting for the future prime minister to emerge from the building. | |
| Some campaigners shouted: “Bollocks to Brexit” and “You can shove your Brexit up Farage” while waving EU flags. Others were holding: “We voted leave” placards over the temporary barriers outside the centre. | |
| Ruth Bradshaw, 76, who lives in London, was among the pro-EU demonstrators disappointed by the news of Boris Johnson’s victory. | |
| “I’m here to stop Brexit,” she said. “I’m very displeased by the news Boris will be the next PM, but I have to say I’m not shocked. I think of the two remaining candidates, the one with more common sense was Mr Hunt – who was prepared to extend the deadline after Halloween.” | |
| President Trump has congratulated Boris Johnson. | |
| Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great! | |
| Boris Johnson’s speech was very short, and probably a disappointment to anyone expecting some trademark Johnson jokes. It was also rather thin for someone who has spent the last four weeks certain almost beyond doubt that they would become the next prime minister. But Johnson will be giving a speech in Downing Street tomorrow, which will receive more attention, he is expected to make a statement to MPs on Thursday, and he is scheduled to give a major speech at the end of this week. Now was not really the time for a major statement of intent. | |
| Still, in an extract buried in the middle of the speech, there were two clues as to where he intends to go. Here is key passage. | |
| If you look at the history of the last 200 years of this party’s existence, you will see that it is we Conservatives who have had the best insights, I think, into human nature, and the best insights into how to manage the jostling sets of instincts in the human heart. | |
| And time again it is to us that the people of this country have turned to get that balance right, between the instincts to own your own home, to earn and spend your own money, to look after your own family – good instincts, proper instincts, noble instincts – and the equally noble instinct to share and to give everyone a fair chance in life. And to look out to the poorest and the neediest, and to build a great society. | |
| And on the whole, in the last 200 years, it is we Conservatives who have understood best how to encourage those instincts to work together in harmony, to promote the good of the whole country. | |
| And today, at this pivotal moment in our history, we again have to reconcile two sets of instincts, two noble sets of instincts, between the deep desire for friendship and free trade and mutual support in security and defence between Britain and our European partners, and the simultaneous desire – equally deep and heartfelt – for democratic self-government in this country. | |
| What does this mean? Here are two thoughts. | |
| Johnson stressed his desire for a partnership with the EU, not confrontation, in his first public comments as prime minister-elect. He could have gone for a reprise of his “Brexit by 31 October, do or die” campaign message, but instead he stressed the importance of having a close and friendly relationship with the EU. That final sentence could have come from a David Cameron speech. This does not necessarily tell you much – the Tory Brexiters think they have Johnson hostage, and so his room for manoeuvre may be limited – but it is interesting nonetheless. | |
| Johnson adopted the language of one nation Conservatism, stressing the importance of caring for the “poorest and the neediest”. Johnson’s supporters claim that, on all issues other than Brexit, he is at heart a mainstream, one nation Conservative. That is hard to square with his enthusiasm for Brexit and Donald Trump, but it was a common assessment of Johnson when he was London mayor. The real question, perhaps, is whether one nation Conservatism is compatible with hardline Brexitism (which takes you towards Nigel Farage-style nativism), but it is worth noting that Johnson still wants to use this language. | |
| Boris Johnson received 66% of the vote, on an 87% turnout. | Boris Johnson received 66% of the vote, on an 87% turnout. |
| In percentage terms, that is better than Jeremy Corbyn achieved in the last Labour leadership election, in 2016, when he got 62% of the vote on a 78% turnout (although the electorate in that contest was much larger). It is also better than Jo Swinson achieved yesterday, when she was elected Lib Dem leader with 63% of the vote on a 72% turnout. | In percentage terms, that is better than Jeremy Corbyn achieved in the last Labour leadership election, in 2016, when he got 62% of the vote on a 78% turnout (although the electorate in that contest was much larger). It is also better than Jo Swinson achieved yesterday, when she was elected Lib Dem leader with 63% of the vote on a 72% turnout. |
| Johnson has also done better than Iain Duncan Smith, the first Conservative leader elected by members, not just MPs. In 2001 Duncan Smith got 61% of the vote on a 78% turnout. | Johnson has also done better than Iain Duncan Smith, the first Conservative leader elected by members, not just MPs. In 2001 Duncan Smith got 61% of the vote on a 78% turnout. |
| But Johnson has not managed to beat his old rival, David Cameron. Cameron had 68% of the vote when he won in 2005, on a turnout that was also 78%. | But Johnson has not managed to beat his old rival, David Cameron. Cameron had 68% of the vote when he won in 2005, on a turnout that was also 78%. |
| He says his three priorities – deliver, unite and defeat – form the acronym Dud. But that is to leave out the final plan: “energise”. So his acronym is Dude, he jokes. | He says his three priorities – deliver, unite and defeat – form the acronym Dud. But that is to leave out the final plan: “energise”. So his acronym is Dude, he jokes. |
| He says he is now going to get on with the job. | He says he is now going to get on with the job. |
| And that’s it. | And that’s it. |
| Boris Johnson says the party has to reconcile two conflicting instincts again: the instinct to work with others, and the instinct for self-government. | Boris Johnson says the party has to reconcile two conflicting instincts again: the instinct to work with others, and the instinct for self-government. |
| He says in the Financial Times this morning someone said no incoming leader had ever faced such a daunting set of circumstances. | He says in the Financial Times this morning someone said no incoming leader had ever faced such a daunting set of circumstances. |
| But do you look daunted, he asks the audience. They don’t look or feel daunted he says. | But do you look daunted, he asks the audience. They don’t look or feel daunted he says. |
| He says the mantra of his campaign was to deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. | He says the mantra of his campaign was to deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. |
| (He used to include unite the party too, but with all the resignations, that might not have sounded such a good line.) | (He used to include unite the party too, but with all the resignations, that might not have sounded such a good line.) |
| Boris Johnson says there will be people who question the wisdom of the decision to elect him. | Boris Johnson says there will be people who question the wisdom of the decision to elect him. |
| No one person or party has a monopoly of wisdom, he says. | No one person or party has a monopoly of wisdom, he says. |
| But he says over time the Conservatives have had the best instincts, and the best way of balancing instincts, like the instinct to own your own home and keep your own money, and the instinct to share. | But he says over time the Conservatives have had the best instincts, and the best way of balancing instincts, like the instinct to own your own home and keep your own money, and the instinct to share. |
| The Conservatives have encouraged those instincts to work together, he says. | The Conservatives have encouraged those instincts to work together, he says. |
| Boris Johnson is giving his victory speech. | Boris Johnson is giving his victory speech. |
| He starts by saying Jeremy Hunt was a formidable opponent. | He starts by saying Jeremy Hunt was a formidable opponent. |
| He was a fount of excellent ideas, all of which Johnson says he proposes to steal forthwith. | He was a fount of excellent ideas, all of which Johnson says he proposes to steal forthwith. |
| And he thanks Theresa May for her service. | And he thanks Theresa May for her service. |
| Boris Johnson won with 66% of the vote. | Boris Johnson won with 66% of the vote. |
| Boris Johnson wins with 66% of the vote | Boris Johnson wins with 66% of the vote |
| Gillan said there were 159,320 people eligible to vote. | Gillan said there were 159,320 people eligible to vote. |
| Turnout was 87.4%. | Turnout was 87.4%. |
| And there were 509 rejected ballot papers. | And there were 509 rejected ballot papers. |
| Gillan is now announcing the results. | Gillan is now announcing the results. |
| Boris Johnson: 92,153 | Boris Johnson: 92,153 |
| Jeremy Hunt: 46,656 | Jeremy Hunt: 46,656 |