Boris Johnson becomes UK PM with pledge to deliver Oct 31 Brexit

Boris Johnson took over from Theresa May as prime minister on Wednesday and swiftly pledged to deliver Brexit on October 31 with or without a deal.

As he stood in front of the famous black door of 10 Downing Street, Johnson offered little in the way of a broader policy roadmap, but instead focused on his firm belief that he could do in the next 99 days what May have failed to do in three years.

“We are going to fulfil the repeated promises of parliament to the people and come out of the EU on 31 October, no ifs or buts,” he said.

“And we will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe based on free trade and mutual support."

“I have every confidence that in 99 days’ time we will have cracked it. But you know what, we aren’t going to wait 99 days because the British people have had enough of waiting. The time has come to act, to take decisions, to give strong leadership and to change this country for the better.”

He warned Brussels and Dublin that he was prepared to go head to head over physical checks at the Irish border and would not countenance the controversial "backstop" - the mechanism that would keep the UK in the customs union to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

“I say to our friends in Ireland, and in Brussels and around the EU, I am convinced that we can do a deal without checks at the Irish border, because we refuse under any circumstances to have such checks and yet without that anti-democratic backstop,” he said.

“And it is of course vital at the same time that we prepare for the remote possibility that Brussels refuses any further to negotiate and we are forced to come out with no deal not because we want that outcome – of course not – but because it is only common sense to prepare.”

Within a couple of hours of his policy-light podium performance Johnson had sharpened his knife and dispensed with his leadership rival and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who decided to return to the backbenches.

In one of the most brutal reshuffles of recent times outside of an election Johnson effectively installed a new government.

Defence Secretary Penny Morduant was also relieved of her command having been a supporter of Hunt and Trade Secretary Liam Fox was also shown the door.

Also sacked were Hunt supporters Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, and Education Secretary Damian Hinds. Chris Grayling, the calamitous Transport Secretary who signed a no-deal Brexit contingency cross channel ferry contract with a firm that had no ships, was allowed to resign as a nod to his undying support for Johnson and the Brexit cause.

Finance Minister Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Development Secretary Rory Stewart all resigned to deny the new prime minister the satisfaction of firing them.