Brexiteer Boris Johnson to be Britain's next prime minister
Boris Johnson speaks after being announced as Britain's next Prime Minister at The Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, Britain July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville Purchase Licensing Rights
LONDON (Reuters) - Boris Johnson, the ebullient Brexiteer who has promised to lead Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal by Halloween, will replace Theresa May as prime minister after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party on Tuesday.
His victory catapults the United Kingdom towards a Brexit showdown with the EU and towards a constitutional crisis at home, as British lawmakers have vowed to bring down any government that tries to leave the bloc without a divorce deal.
Johnson, the face of the 2016 Brexit referendum, won 92,153 votes by members of the Conservative Party. His rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, won 46,656 votes.
Reporting Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and William James, Kate Holton, Alistair Smout and Costas Pitas; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison
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