On Tuesday, the former London Mayor, Boris Johnson, beat Jeremy Hunt in the race to succeed Theresa May as the head of the Tory party, securing 92,153 votes to the foreign secretary's 46,656. This 2:1 margin of victory gives Johnson a strong mandate to pursue his own Brexit in the coming weeks, as he vowed to "deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn."
President Donald Trump tweeted his approval almost immediately after Johnson's victory. "Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!" POTUS tweeted.
The former London mayor will enter Downing Street at about 4 pm on Wednesday and will be immediately confronted by the challenge of uniting his party and charting a course out of the Brexit impasse.
Theresa May will stay as prime minister for another 24 hours and will take questions in the Commons for the last time at midday on Wednesday. She will then make a farewell speech in Downing Street before presenting her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Johnson will then visit the palace where the queen will formally invite him to lead the government.
The new prime minister is expected to start forming his new government immediately, with the key posts of chancellor, foreign secretary, home secretary and chief whip expected to be decided on Wednesday evening.
Boris Johnson's supporters are hoping he can shift the Brexit narrative through the optimism he sought to portray in his leadership campaign and credibly threatening the EU with the prospect that he is ready to take the United Kingdom out of the bloc without a deal.
"Mr Johnson won the support of this group by promising to deliver Brexit but failing to explain how," said eurosceptic Conservative lawmaker Steve Baker. One possible compromise with the EU—to put a time limit on a plan to stay in the EU's customs union to avoid a border in Ireland—is no longer acceptable to them, Mr Baker said. "It's too late now," he said.
Brexit isn't the only challenge facing Mr Johnson. He inherits a confrontation with Iran following the boarding off of the British territory of Gibraltar of an Iranian tanker heading for Syria and the seizure of a British-flagged tanker sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted his congratulations to "my former counterpart" Mr Johnson. But he described the British seizure of Iranian oil as "piracy, pure & simple" and promised to protect Iran's 1,500 miles of Gulf coastline.
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