Boris Johnson may have resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but he’s not leaving with his tail between his legs. Instead, he decided to go out with a bang, speaking with humor and offering advice to his successor — which will either be former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss — and even quoted the Terminator (or Jody Watley, if you want to acknowledge who really originated the phrase) at his final Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Prime Minister’s Questions is an interesting phenomenon. Because the UK government is a parliamentary system, the Prime Minister is part of Parliament, so once a week, he or she stands before Parliament to answer questions from members (MPs).
Can you imagine an American president taking questions from Congress once a week? Yeah, neither can I.
At his final session of Prime Minister’s Questions, Johnson, one of Britain’s most colorful (or should I say “colourful”?) and polarizing Prime Ministers, gave a quick closing speech that MPs of all parties and political persuasions punctuated with cheers and laughter.
Related: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Has Resigned
I want to use the last few seconds, Mr. Speaker, to give some words of advice to my successor, whoever he or she may be. Number one, stay close to the Americans. Stick up for the Ukrainians. Stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere.
Cut taxes and deregulate wherever you can to make this the greatest place to live and invest, which it is. I love the Treasury but remember that if we’d always listened to the Treasury, we wouldn’t have built the M25 [London’s perimeter highway] or the Channel Tunnel [a railway tunnel underneat the English Channel].
Focus on the road ahead. Focus on the road ahead, but always remember to check the rearview mirror, and remember, remember, above all, it’s not Twitter that counts. It’s the people that sent us here.
And yes, the last few years have been the greatest privilege of my life, and it’s true that I helped to get the biggest Tory majority for 40 years and a huge realignment in UK politics.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve transformed our democracy and restored our national independence. As my Right Honourable friend says, I’ve helped to get this country through a pandemic and helped save another country from barbarism. And frankly, that’s enough to be going on with.
Mission largely accomplished — for now. I want to thank you, and Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the wonderful staff. And thank all my friends and colleagues. I want to thank my Right Honourable friend opposite, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank everybody here, and hasta la vista, baby. Thank you.
“He then left the House of Commons to a standing ovation from Tory MPs,” writes Steerpike at the Spectator, where Johnson served as editor several years ago. “Labour, unsurprisingly, did not join in. Magnanimous to the last eh?”
Sunak and Truss will now traverse the country for the rest of the summer, speaking to and answering questions from Conservative Party members. Tory MPs will vote later this summer, and the party should announce the results sometime around September 5.
Watch Johnson’s sign-off:
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