Global InformationBoris Johnson information
The Right Honourable Boris Johnson Hon FRIBA | |
|---|---|
 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 |
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| Preceded by | Ken Livingstone |
| Succeeded by | Sadiq Khan |
| Shadow Minister | |
| 2005–2007 | Higher Education |
| 2004 | Arts |
| Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip | |
| In office 7 May 2015 – 12 June 2023 | |
| Preceded by | John Randall |
| Succeeded by | Steve Tuckwell |
| Member of Parliament for Henley | |
| In office 7 June 2001 – 4 June 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Heseltine |
| Succeeded by | John Howell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson 19 June 1964 New York City, US |
| Citizenship |
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| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | Allegra Mostyn-Owen
(1987–1993)Marina Wheeler
(m. 1993; div. 2020)Carrie Symonds (m. 2021) |
| Parents |
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| Relatives |
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| Residence | Brightwell Manor |
| Education |
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| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
| Website | UK Parliament profile |
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Mayor of London
European Union referendum
Foreign Secretary
Party leadership campaigns
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
First ministry and term
Second ministry and term
Bibliography
In popular culture
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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He was previously Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 2001 to 2008 and Uxbridge and South Ruislip from 2015 to 2023.
Johnson attended Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford in his youth, and he was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. In 1989, he began writing for The Daily Telegraph, and from 1999 to 2005 he was the editor of The Spectator. He became a member of the shadow cabinet of Michael Howard in 2001 before being sacked in 2004 for lying about his private life. After Howard resigned, he became a member of David Cameron's shadow cabinet. He was elected Mayor of London in 2008 and resigned from the House of Commons to focus his attention on the mayoralty. He was re-elected mayor in 2012, but did not run for re-election in 2016. At the 2015 general election he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Johnson was a prominent figure in the Brexit campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum. After the referendum, Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him foreign secretary. He resigned from the position in 2018 in protest at both the Chequers Agreement and May's approach to Brexit.
Johnson succeeded May as prime minister. He re-opened Brexit negotiations with the European Union and in early September he prorogued Parliament; the Supreme Court later ruled the action to have been unlawful. After agreeing to a revised Brexit withdrawal agreement but failing to win parliamentary support, Johnson called a snap general election to be held in December 2019, which the Conservative Party won. During Johnson's premiership, the government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by introducing various emergency powers to mitigate its impact and approved a nationwide vaccination programme. He also responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia and authorising foreign aid and weapons shipments to Ukraine.[2] In the Partygate scandal it was found that numerous parties had been held at 10 Downing Street during national COVID-19 lockdowns, and COVID-19 social distancing laws were breached by 83 individuals, including Johnson, who in April 2022 was issued with a fixed penalty notice. The publishing of the Sue Gray report in May 2022 and a widespread sense of dissatisfaction led in June 2022 to a vote of confidence in his leadership amongst Conservative MPs, which he won. In July 2022, revelations over his appointment of Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip of the party while knowing of allegations of sexual misconduct against him led to a mass resignation of members of his government and to Johnson announcing his resignation as prime minister. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Liz Truss. He remained in the House of Commons as a backbencher until 9 June 2023, when he received the draft of the Commons Privileges Committee investigation into his conduct that unanimously found that he had lied to the Commons on numerous occasions. Johnson resigned his position as MP the same day.
Johnson is seen by many as a controversial figure in British politics.[3][4] His supporters have praised him for being humorous, witty, and entertaining,[5] with an appeal reaching beyond traditional Conservative Party voters, making him, in their view, an electoral asset to the party.[6][7] Conversely, his critics have accused him of lying, elitism, cronyism and bigotry.[8][9][10] As prime minister, his supporters praised him for "getting Brexit done", overseeing the UK's COVID-19 vaccination programme, which was amongst the fastest in the world, and being one of the first world leaders to offer humanitarian support to Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country.[11][12][13] His tenure also saw several controversies and scandals, and is viewed as the most scandalous premiership of modern times by historians and biographers alike.[14] Johnson has commonly been described as a one-nation conservative, and political commentators have characterised his political style as opportunistic, populist and 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).
- ^ 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.
- ^ "UK Gives £1 Billion to Ukraine to Help Fund Offensive Operations". Bloomberg.com. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "'Get Brexit Done.' The Slogan That Won Britain's Election". Time. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Editorial (1 February 2021). "The Guardian view on the vaccine rollout: the state we're in". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ "Boris Johnson's support for Ukraine was special, President Zelensky says". BBC News. 7 July 2022. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ "The most controversial PM since Lloyd George: historians on Boris Johnson". The Observer. 4 September 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ 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.