LONDON _ Boris Johnson, a British politician best known for his eccentric and unpredictable ways, overwhelmingly won a party leadership contest on Tuesday that also anoints him as the country's next prime minister.
Johnson, who is expected to assume the post Wednesday, will immediately face an array of crises. A hard-line Brexiter, he insists Britain will depart the European Union as scheduled on Oct. 31, despite bitter national divisions over how or even whether to do so. He also confronts high tensions with Iran over oil shipping in the Persian Gulf and a brewing rebellion within the ranks of his own party.
President Donald Trump, who has been a booster of both Brexit and Johnson, swiftly tweeted his congratulations, without waiting for Johnson to formally take office. "Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom," the president wrote. "He will be great!"
Because of the quirks of the British political system, only dues-paying members of the governing Conservative Party _ just 160,000 people _ were eligible to vote in the leadership contest. That means that the new prime minister was in effect picked by less than 1% of the electorate, chosen by a group that is older, wealthier and more likely to be white than the average voter.
Johnson's acceptance speech was delivered in his trademark exuberant style, including some language that might be considered unconventional, coming from a product of Britain's most elite educational institutions.
"Dude, we are going to energize the country!" he declared. "We are going to get Brexit done!"
The prime-minister-in-waiting has leaned heavily on the notion that sheer national determination can make a success of Brexit, despite unabated polarization and rancor that erupted after the June 2016 Brexit referendum.
His detractors say Johnson has a misplaced faith that his own charisma will lead the Europeans to allow Britain to shake off EU rules while maintaining many of the essential privileges of membership in the bloc.
"We are once again going to believe in ourselves," Johnson told the party faithful who assembled to hear the vote results announced.
Johnson, 55, had been heavily favored to triumph over rival Jeremy Hunt, the foreign minister, and the lopsided tally announced Tuesday was in line with those expectations: 92,153 votes for Johnson and 46,656 for Hunt. Turnout was 87.4%.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who stayed on in a caretaker capacity after resigning as party leader last month, will formally tender her resignation Wednesday to Queen Elizabeth II. May and her predecessor David Cameron were both done in by Brexit, with May struggling for three years to win lawmakers' approval for a deal to depart the EU.
Johnson, a former foreign minister, has insisted that if no Brexit accord can be reached, he is willing to "crash out" of the bloc without a deal _ a scenario most economists have said would be financially disastrous for Britain and have serious repercussions for the global economy.
Johnson insists that a "can-do" attitude will allow Britain to either strike a favorable deal with the EU or weather the hardships of a no-deal exit. But several key Cabinet ministers have already announced they would not serve in a government under Johnson unless he backs off from his "do or die" stance on an Oct. 31 departure. And the Conservatives hold only a slim parliamentary majority.
The EU has already ruled out substantial changes to the deal it struck with May, which she repeatedly failed to get through Parliament. After the vote, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tweeted, "We look forward to working constructively" with Johnson.
As Johnson steps in, time is running out for a Brexit deal. Parliament will go into recess on Thursday and won't meet again until Sept. 3, leaving what many call a dauntingly short window to avert a chaotic departure from the bloc.
The leader-to-be brushed aside any qualms.
"Do you look daunted? Do you feel daunted?" he asked fellow Conservatives. "The people of this country are trusting in us."
