Boris Johnson will be Prime Minister, beating Jeremy Hunt to become Tory leader
Boris Johnson has been named Tory party leader and will become British Prime Minister. (Niklas HALLE’N / AFP)
Boris Johnson will be named Prime Minster after beating Jeremy Hunt to become leader of the Conservative Party.
The long-fought Tory leadership contest saw a total of 13 MPs put themselves forward to take over from Theresa May following her resignation.
The MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip was the clear favourite throughout the contest, securing the votes of more than 100 Tory MPs in each round.
Mr Johnson received 92,153 votes whereas Mr Hunt took 46,656.
160,000 Conservative party members picked between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. (Dan Kitwood/Getty and Leon Neal/Getty)
Theresa May is expected to face her final Prime Minister’s Question in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Mr Johnson will then visit the Queen, who will invite him to form a government, before he enters 10 Downing Street at around 5pm.
This is the first time in British political history that the PM has been selected by a party membership rather than MPs or the electorate — fewer than 0.4 percent of 46.8 million citizens eligible to vote determined the country’s leadership fate.
Theresa May resigned earlier this year sparking the leadership contest. (DARREN STAPLES/AFP/Getty)
With a new Prime Minister incoming and a likely major Cabinet reshuffle, the changes to government may have a large impact on LGBT+ people.
Mr Johnson has a very public history of anti-LGBT slurs, and has never issued a direct apology for his past comments.
In 1990s newspaper columns, Johnson referred to gay people as “tank-topped bumboys” and attacked “Labour’s appalling agenda, encouraging the teaching of homosexuality in schools.”
The new leader has also compared gay weddings to “three men and a dog.”
During his leadership campaign, Johnson was challenged over the quotes on multiple occasions, but has declined to apologise.
He said: “If you’re going to excavate and disinter every single quotation from the millions of words I have written, you can of course try and twist things one way or another but I have a very proud record.”
Colm Howard-Lloyd, Chairman of LGBT+ Conservatives commented: “As Mayor Boris funded pride and banned anti-gay tube ads. In parliament he backed same-sex marriage, and as Foreign Secretary encouraged UK embassies to fly the rainbow flag, and had robust discussions with Commonwealth colleagues on progress needed.
“However as a journalist he used some distinctly hurtful and unhelpful language, and that has dented the confidence of many in the LGBT community. I expect him to address that at an early opportunity.
“The four-year LGBT Action Plan has made significant progress, achieving a third of its actions in the first twelve months, but significant work remains. As recent Conservative Prime Ministers have shown, that only comes about through strong leadership from the top.
“During the Leadership race Boris made a number of commitments via LGBT+ Conservatives, and I look forward to working closely with the new Prime Minister and his team. We have work to do!”
