With U.K. Election Win in Sight, Johnson Set to Best His Detractors - Wall Street Journal

Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson speaking at a rally in London... — Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson speaking at a rally in London on Wednesday. Photo: ben stansall/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Jason Douglas

The Wall Street Journal

Biography
@wsj_douglasj
jason.douglas@wsj.com

Updated Dec. 12, 2019 9:03 pm ET

LONDON—British Prime Minister Boris Johnson fought his election campaign on a simple message: “Get Brexit Done.”

With an exit poll and a trickle of initial results pointing to a substantial parliamentary majority for the Conservative Party, he appears poised to do just that, putting the U.K. finally on course to leave the European Union Jan. 31, more than 3½ years after voters chose to break with the bloc in a 2016 referendum.

Such an outcome, if confirmed once all votes are tallied in the early hours of Friday morning, would be a stunning victory for a divisive leader whose five months in office have been marked by setbacks and controversy.

He was chosen by the Conservatives to succeed Theresa May in July, after a series of rejections in Parliament for a Brexit deal she had negotiated with the EU sank her premiership. Mr. Johnson was instrumental in those defeats, having quit his post as the U.K.’s top diplomat to rail against a withdrawal package he said would condemn the U.K. to “economic vassalage.”

In choosing Mr. Johnson, party members picked a wild-haired and upper-crust maverick with a checkered private life to replace the sober Mrs. May and deliver on their overriding goal of leaving the EU.

But he is a politician with a rare electoral appeal. The 55-year-old former journalist who used to appear on television panel shows, Mr. Johnson enjoys a celebrity in British life that few politicians can match. He has a rapport with President Trump, who has praised Mr. Johnson on numerous occasions, once even describing him as “Britain Trump.” He won back-to-back London mayoral elections in 2007 and 2012 and was the figurehead of the successful campaign to leave the EU.

Thursday’s exit poll suggests the party’s faith has paid off. The Conservatives were projected to win a majority of more than 80 seats, which, if confirmed by constituency results overnight, would mark their best result since the heyday of Margaret Thatcher.

Mr. Johnson is projected to lead the Conservatives to victory in dozens of seats in northern England the party has rarely, if ever, won. He and his advisers settled on a simple pitch to win over pro-Brexit voters in predominantly Labour-held areas: A vote for Mr. Johnson is a vote to end the Brexit stalemate. He further sharpened his message with promises of investment in housing and infrastructure in left-behind regions in what was a low-risk campaign.

Mr. Johnson was also lucky in his opponent. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, appeared ambivalent on Brexit and proved unpopular with blue-collar voters.

Born in New York City, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was educated at Eton College and Oxford, two of the U.K.’s most elite institutions. His career as a journalist included stints at the Times of London, the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph and the Spectator, where he was editor of the storied right-of-center weekly magazine.

A darling of the Conservative Party’s grass roots for his wit and loquacity, he also has a reputation of being prone to gaffes. While London mayor, he once got stuck on a zip line while waving two British flags and in 2015 flattened a Japanese schoolboy while playing rugby. During the election campaign, he was filmed pocketing a reporter’s phone and trying to hide from television cameras.

His ascent to the premiership wasn’t smooth. He had been expected to be a leading candidate for the Conservative Party leadership after leading the Brexit side to victory in 2016 but withdrew from the race when a key ally, Michael Gove, deserted him to run himself. He was appointed foreign secretary by Mrs. May but quit in 2018 in protest at her withdrawal deal. He used his perch as a columnist in a daily newspaper to criticize her plans, irritating her allies, some of whom dismissed him as a court jester-type figure.

His first months in office were marked by the same political tumult that stymied his predecessor. The U.K.’s Supreme Court ruled unlawful his attempt to suspend Parliament for five weeks soon after he took office, an unprecedented rebuke to a sitting prime minister from the country’s top judges.

He surprised his detractors by succeeding in a renegotiation of Mrs. May’s withdrawal deal, but lost the Conservatives’ Northern Irish allies in the process, weakening his minority administration. His parliamentary authority was eroded further when he kicked out from the Conservative Party senior lawmakers, including Winston Churchill’s grandson, for defying him on Brexit.

Opposition parties initially resisted his calls for an election he hoped would shore up his position, and only relented once they forced Mr. Johnson to ask the EU to delay Brexit for a third time, from Oct. 31.

Through such setbacks and reversals, Mr. Johnson said his actions were motivated by a desire to implement what he described as the people’s will in choosing Brexit. Britons voted 52% to 48% in favor of leaving the EU in 2016.