Toppernity/sandbox | |
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.jpg) Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 24 July 2019 – 6 September 2022 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Deputy | Dominic Raab[a] |
| Preceded by | Theresa May |
| Succeeded by | Liz Truss |
| Leader of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 23 July 2019 – 5 September 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Theresa May |
| Succeeded by | Liz Truss |
| Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
| In office 13 July 2016 – 9 July 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Philip Hammond |
| Succeeded by | Jeremy Hunt |
| Mayor of London | |
| In office 3 May 2008 – 9 May 2016 | |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Ken Livingstone |
| Succeeded by | Sadiq Khan |
| Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | John Randall |
| Majority | 7,210 (15.0%)[1] |
| Member of Parliament for Henley | |
| In office 7 June 2001 – 4 June 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Heseltine |
| Succeeded by | John Howell |
| Shadow ministerial posts | |
| 2004 | Shadow Minister for the Arts |
| 2005–2007 | Shadow Minister for Higher Education |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson 19 June 1964 New York City, US |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 7, including Lara Johnson-Wheeler[3][4] |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
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| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford (BA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | boris-johnson.org.uk |
| Writing career | |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Notable works |
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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson Hon FRIBA (/ˈfɛfəl/;[5] born 19 June 1964) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2016 to 2018 and as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Johnson has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015, having previously been MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008.
Johnson attended Eton College, and studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford. He was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. In 1989 he became the Brussels correspondent — and later political columnist — for The Daily Telegraph, and from 1999 to 2005 was the editor of The Spectator. Following his election to parliament in 2001 he was a shadow minister under Conservative leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron. In 2008, Johnson was elected mayor of London and resigned from the House of Commons; he was re-elected mayor in 2012. At the 2015 general election he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and the following year did not seek re-election as mayor. Johnson became a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign for Brexit in the 2016 European Union (EU) membership referendum. Theresa May appointed him foreign secretary after the referendum; he resigned the position two years later in protest at the Chequers Agreement and May's approach to Brexit.
In 2019, Johnson was elected Leader of the Conservative Party, defeating Jeremy Hunt. He re-opened Brexit negotiations and in early September controversially prorogued Parliament; the Supreme Court later that month ruled the action unlawful.[b] After agreeing to a revised Brexit withdrawal agreement, which replaced the Irish backstop with a new Northern Ireland Protocol, but failing to win parliamentary support for the agreement, Johnson called a snap election for December 2019 in which he led the Conservative Party to victory with 43.6 per cent of the vote, and the party's largest seat share since 1987. On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom withdrew from the EU, entering into a transition period and trade negotiations that led to the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The COVID-19 pandemic became a major issue of his premiership; the government responded by introducing various emergency powers and measures across society to mitigate the pandemic's impact, and approved the rollout of a nationwide vaccination programme. Beginning in December 2021, it emerged that government officials had attended social gatherings which breached COVID-19 regulations, a controversy known as "Partygate". In April 2022, Johnson received a fixed penalty notice for attending one of these gatherings, becoming the first prime minister of the United Kingdom to be sanctioned for breaking the law while in office. The publishing of the Sue Gray report and a widespread sense of dissatisfaction led in June 2022 to a vote of confidence in his leadership among Conservative MPs, which he won. In July 2022, revelations over his appointment of Chris Pincher as Deputy Chief Whip led to a mass resignation of ministers from his government and to Johnson announcing his resignation. He left office on 6 September after the leadership election for his successor was completed, and was succeeded by Liz Truss. He remains in the House of Commons as a backbencher.
Johnson is a controversial figure in British politics.[7][8] Supporters have praised him as humorous, witty, and entertaining,[9] with an appeal stretching beyond traditional Conservative Party voters.[10][11] Conversely, his critics have accused him of lying, elitism, cronyism and bigotry.[12][13][14] Johnson's political positions have sometimes been described as following one-nation conservatism, and commentators have characterised his political style as opportunistic, populist, or pragmatic.[15][16][17]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Uxbridge & South Ruislip". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Croucher, Shane (23 July 2019). "Britain's new prime minister was a U.S. citizen for decades—until the IRS caught up with him". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ Grylls, George (9 December 2021). "Boris Johnson to take time off with Carrie after birth of their second baby". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ "Boris and Carrie Johnson announce name of new daughter". BBC News. 16 December 2021. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- ^ "Boris Johnson". Who Do You Think You Are?. 20 August 2008. BBC.
- ^ R (on the application of Miller) (Appellant) v The Prime Minister (Respondent), 12 (Supreme Court of the United Kingdom 2019), Text.
- ^ Davies, Guy (23 July 2019). "Meet Boris Johnson: The UK's controversial new prime minister". ABC News. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ Blitz, James (23 July 2019). "Why is Boris Johnson such a divisive figure?". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ Gimson 2012, p. 20.
- ^ Kirkup, James (7 January 2015). "Boris Johnson goes looking for Conservative friends in the north". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ Purnell 2011, p. 327.
- ^ Edwards & Isaby 2008, p. 110.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
GuardChumswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Purnell 2011, p. 365.
- ^ Purnell 2011, p. 121.
- ^ Staunton, Denis (23 June 2019). "Boris Johnson: The UK's deeply polarising next prime minister". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ Berend, T. Iván (2020). A century of populist demagogues: Eighteen European portraits, 1918–2018. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-963-386-334-3. JSTOR 10.7829/j.ctv16f6cn2.1.