Boris Johnson elected Conservative Party leader; will become new PM

Boris Johnson was on Tuesday elected leader of the Conservative Party and as a result will become prime minister, replacing Theresa May.

Johnson won 92,153 votes to the 46,656 polled by his rival Jeremy Hunt. There were 159,320 people eligible to vote. Turnout was 87.4% with 509 rejected ballot papers.

The new party leader does not formally take over in Downing Street until Wednesday. Theresa May will face her final parliamentary prime minister’s question time before tendering her resignation to the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Johnson will then make the same journey to have his appointment confirmed and ask permission to form a government.

In a performance that belied the gravity of the situation in front of him with the Brexit crisis still unresolved and Cabinet ministers resigning rather then work with him, Johnson repeated his campaign slogan of: “Deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn.”

He indicated to an audience of party faithful that the acronym for this was “dud”, and tacked on what he called the missing "e" for “energise”.

“I say to all the doubters: dude, we are going to energise the country!’”

Within minutes of Johnson's coronation, deputy European Commission President Frans Timmermans said a no-deal Brexit ", would be a tragedy - for all sides, not just for the United Kingdom".

"We are all going to suffer if that happens. The United Kingdom reached an agreement with the European Union and the European Union will stick to that agreement."

“He took a long time deciding whether he was for or against Brexit. And now his position is clear. I think the position of the EU is also clear. The United Kingdom reached an agreement with the European Union and the European Union will stick to that agreement. And we will hear what the new prime minister has to say when he comes to Brussels.”

The laughs may be free and easy for Johnson now, but he faces more fundamental mathematical problems inside the House of Commons. The Tories have a slim majority of four, which could be reduced again if the Liberal Democrats take the seat of Brecon and Radnorshire in a byelection on August 1.

The poll was triggered after Tory MP Chris Davies was unseated by a petition that followed his conviction for a false expenses claim.

Before the week even started Johnson faced an internal rebellion as Cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Philip Hammond, saying they would quit rather than serve under him. The resignations were driven by Johnson saying he would take the UK out of the EU without a deal and would suspend parliament if necessary.