May Filling More Government Posts; Euroskeptics in Key Roles

LONDON— British Prime Minister Theresa May is filling more Cabinet posts Thursday as she assembles a government that includes prominent anti-EU figures in key international roles.The best-known appointee is new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a surp...
May Filling More Government Posts; Euroskeptics in Key Roles
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 13: British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks outside 10 Downing Street on July 13, 2016 in London, England. Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images
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LONDON—British Prime Minister Theresa May is filling more Cabinet posts Thursday as she assembles a government that includes prominent anti-EU figures in key international roles.

The best-known appointee is new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a surprising choice to be Britain’s top diplomat. The former mayor of London was a leader of the “leave” campaign, and is internationally famous — but for rumpled eccentricity and distinctly undiplomatic gaffes, rather than statesmanlike behavior.

In April, Johnson suggested that U.S. President Barack Obama had an “ancestral dislike” of Britain because he is part-Kenyan.

Johnson said he was “very excited” to be part of the government. Asked whom he would apologize to first, he said “the United States of America will be at the front of the queue.”

New Treasury chief Philip Hammond reassured a startled world that Johnson — whose responsibilities include oversight of the MI6 spy agency — would be a team player

“The Cabinet works collectively and we have got a range of different characters and a range of different styles and a range of different talent,” he told BBC radio. “The lead and the tone will be set by the prime minister.”

Newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is pursued by members of the media as he leaves his home in north London, as new Prime Minister Theresa May prepared to put the finishing touches to her top team, Thursday July 14, 2016. (Lauren Hurley/PA via AP)
Newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is pursued by members of the media as he leaves his home in north London, as new Prime Minister Theresa May prepared to put the finishing touches to her top team, Thursday July 14, 2016. Lauren Hurley/PA via AP