Boris Johnson

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Boris Johnson
Other names Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson
Boris Johnson official portrait (cropped).jpg
Born 19th June 1964
New York City
Occupation journalist, politician
Political party Conservative Party

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19th June 1964 in New York City) was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 until 2022. He was appointed as the UK's head of government by Queen Elizabeth II on 24th July 2019 following the resignation of Theresa May. Under Johnson, the party won a general election in December 2019. He was leader of the Conservative Party until 7th July 2022 after a series of scandals resulted in increasing criticism from his own MPs, culminating in a wave of resignations from the government. He resigned on 6th September 2022 and was succeeded by Liz Truss.

Johnson was previously a journalist for the The Times and the Daily Telegraph, but was sacked from the former for making up a quote.[1] His subsequent political career suffered a setback when he was sacked from the Conservatives' Opposition team by leader Michael Howard in 2004 for lying about an affair.[2] He later became Mayor of London, then Foreign Secretary under May before resigning over Brexit.

Johnson has been married three times and had four children with his second wife, Marina Wheeler. Court documents show that he has at least one other child via an affair;[3] he also has two other children with his third wife, Carrie Symonds.

While a student at the University of Oxford Johnson had been a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club.[4] Although Johnson would later express regret over the vandalism and whoremongering he and his friends engaged in, he shocked critics by appointing club members, like Ewen Fergusson, to positions of trust, for which they seemed unqualified. In spite of those earlier criticisms Johnson appointed former club member Harry Mount to the House of Lords appointments commission on September 2, 2022 - mere days before he was scheduled to step down as Prime Minister.

Footnotes

  1. Independent: 'Boris Johnson: The most infamous lies and untruths by the Conservative leadership candidate'. 25th May 2019.
  2. Guardian: 'Boris Johnson sacked by Tories over private life'. 14th November 2004.
  3. 'AAA v Associated Newspapers Ltd (2013) EWCA Civ 554 (20 May 2013)'; Independent: 'Boris Johnson: How many children does the Prime Minister have?'. 29th April 2020.
  4. Matthew Weaver, Henry Dyer. Boris Johnson gives peerages job to author of book on his ‘wit and wisdom’, The Guardian, 2022-09-02. Retrieved on 2022-09-07. “Boris Johnson has sparked fresh accusations of cronyism after choosing the author of a book on his 'wit and wisdom' to help oversee the appointment of new peers to the House of Lords.” mirror