LONDON -- Boris Johnson took over as Britain's prime minister Wednesday, vowing to break the impasse that defeated his predecessor by leading the country out of the European Union and silencing "the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters" who believe it can't be done.
But the Brexit champion faces the same problems that flummoxed Theresa May during her three years in office: heading a government without a parliamentary majority and with most lawmakers opposed to leaving the EU without a divorce deal.
Johnson has just over three months to make good on his promise to deliver Brexit by Oct. 31 after what he called "three years of unfounded self-doubt."
He pledged to get "a new deal, a better deal" with the EU than the one secured by May, which was repeatedly rejected by Britain's Parliament.
"The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts," he said.
Trying to avoid the political divisions that plagued May, Johnson swept out many of her ministers to make way for his own team, dominated by loyal Brexit supporters. He appointed Sajid Javid to the key role of Treasury chief, named staunch Brexit supporter Dominic Raab as foreign secretary and made Priti Patel the new home secretary, or interior minister. Michael Gove, who alongside Johnson ran the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, also got a Cabinet job.
Over half of May's Cabinet is gone, including ex-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Johnson's defeated rival for the Conservative leadership, who said he had turned down the chance to stay in government in a different job.
In his first speech as prime minister, Johnson vowed to keep relations with the EU "as warm and as close and as affectionate as possible" and promised "absolute certainty" that the 3 million people from EU nations who live in Britain can stay. May made the same promise, but it still is not enshrined in law.
He also said Britain might be forced to leave with no deal if "Brussels refuses any further to negotiate."
The EU is adamant it will not renegotiate the agreement struck with May on the terms of Britain's departure and the framework of future relations. Without it, Britain faces a chaotic Brexit that economists warn would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc, send the value of the pound plummeting and plunge the U.K. into recession.
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said that "we are ready to listen and to work with" Johnson, but he did not budge on the bloc's refusal to alter the deal.
"A no-deal Brexit will never be, never, the choice of the EU. But we are prepared," he said in Brussels before Johnson spoke.
Johnson's political opponents accused him of offering little more than hot air.
"Rhetoric and reality are two different things," said Keir Starmer, the Labor Party's Brexit spokesman.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that Johnson's speech was "rambling, blame-shifting and, to put it mildly, somewhat divorced from reality."
Earlier Wednesday, May stood in Downing Street alongside her husband, Philip, and said it had been "the greatest honor" to serve as prime minister. She then went to Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II.
Moments after May's car left the palace, Johnson swept in to see the queen and be appointed the 14th prime minister of her 67-year reign. Her first was Winston Churchill.
There was a brief hiccup in the handover when Greenpeace climate-change protesters blocked Johnson's car by forming a human chain on the road outside the palace. They were quickly moved aside by his police escort. Later, hundreds of people demonstrated in central London against Johnson's support for Brexit and past remarks about Muslims, women and others.
Johnson's office said his government would be a "Cabinet for modern Britain" with more women and a record number of ministers from ethnic minorities.
His administration is also set to include some pro-EU politicians, but most will be strong Brexit supporters. One of his senior advisers is set to be Dominic Cummings, lead strategist for the 2016 referendum.
British lawmakers are due to start a six-week summer break on Friday. When they return in September, Johnson looks set for a fight with lawmakers, a majority of whom oppose leaving the EU without a deal.
A Section on 07/25/2019