In his final speech in Parliament, Boris Johnson defended his three tumultuous years in office, covering Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine. Photo / AP
In his final speech in Parliament, Boris Johnson defended his three tumultuous years in office, covering Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine. Photo / AP
To a standing ovation from his recently mutinous MPs, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson bowed out of his final set piece event in parliament Wednesday, signing off by saying: "Hasta la vista, baby!"
But his parting shots, including the invocation of Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line in the Terminator movies, were taken by some commentators as hinting that he would be back.
With a vintage blast of invective against his critics, Johnson, 58, defended his three tumultuous years in office — which included everything from Brexit to Covid vaccines and the war in Ukraine — and praised the candidates battling to succeed him, while fending off opposition attacks at his last session of Prime Minister's Questions.
Theresa May took her time to stand, and then refused to clap for Boris Johnson. Photo / Twitter
However there was one person in the stands who wasn't too keen on clapping, let alone standing up for the outgoing Prime Minister's final showing.
Former prime minister Theresa May was spotted sitting down as the gallery rose clapping, before slowly rising and staring down Johnson as he received his applause.
Britain's Conservative Party have chosen former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss — a fiscal moderate and a low-tax crusader — as the two finalists in a party election to replace Johnson.
Sunak and Truss came first and second respectively in a secret vote by Conservative lawmakers. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt came in third and was eliminated.
Johnson's team is reportedly running an "anyone but Rishi" campaign, accusing the former chancellor of orchestrating the revolt among his Cabinet ministers that succeeded in forcing his resignation a few weeks ago.
"I'm not following this thing particularly closely," John said of the race to find his replacement, to laughter.
But he said that any one of the three Conservatives' candidates, "like some household detergent, would wipe the floor" with Labour, adding their leader Keir Starmer was "a great pointless human bollard" standing in the way of progress.
Rishi Sunak came first in a secret vote by Conservative lawmakers for a replacement for Boris Johnson, and is now on the campaign trail for the leadership. Photo / AP
The leadership race, which has already produced bitter Conservative infighting, pits Sunak, who steered Britain's economy through the pandemic before quitting Johnson's government this month, against Truss, who has led the UK's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The two contenders will spend the next few weeks campaigning for the votes of about 180,000 Conservative Party members around the country, who will vote by postal or online ballot. The winner of the party leadership vote will be announced September 5 and will automatically become Britain's next prime minister.
Obvs the Liz Truss cheese speech is now more iconic than Churchill’s beaches – but I still don’t think the *level* of cringe/nonsense/hilarity is appreciated enough. Most clips don’t even get to the Isaac Newton apples bit. I will simply never get over this performance. pic.twitter.com/9lH7yCWnCO
All the contenders — there were 11 to start — sought to distance themselves from Johnson, whose term in office began boldly in 2019 with a vow to "get Brexit done" and a resounding election victory, but is now ending in disgrace.
Johnson quit July 7 but remains caretaker leader until the party elects his successor.
On Wednesday, he faced derisive opposition politicians and weary Conservatives at his last Prime Minister's Questions session in the House of Commons, which adjourns for the summer on Thursday.
It was a downbeat departure, with supportive Conservative lawmakers lobbing praise and opposition politicians offering variations on "good riddance."
Johnson extolled what he called his accomplishments — leading Britain out of the EU and through Covid-19, and supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion — and declared: "Mission largely accomplished, for now," before departing with Arnold Schwarzenegger's "hasta la vista" catchphrase.
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said: "I will miss the delusion."
Liz Truss led the UK's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and is now in the running for the top job. Photo / AP
Johnson clung to office through months of scandals over his finances and his judgment, refusing to resign when he was fined by police over government parties that broke Covid-19 lockdown rules. He finally quit after one scandal too many — appointing a politician accused of sexual misconduct — drove his ministers to resign en masse.
Despite remaining prime minister, he has largely disappeared from the scene, even as Britain faces a summer cost-of-living crisis and labour discontent as inflation hits 9.4 per cent.
Johnson did not attend any government emergency meetings about the heat wave that brought record temperatures of 40Celsius to Britain this week.
Last week he took a ride in a Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jet, with Top Gun-style footage released by his office, then threw a weekend party at Chequers, the country house that comes with the prime minister's job.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan accused Johnson of wanting to "become Tom Cruise" and urged him to resign immediately.
"We need a full-time prime minister looking after our country rather than somebody who's checked out," Khan said.
