IT'S only been a few hours since somewhere in the region of the square root of hee haw voted for our next prime minister, but that hasn't stopped politicians from all over the UK and beyond typing out those tweets in a bid to put some#numbers on the board.
Whether congratulating through gritted teeth to sooking up to the new leader, and everything in between, below is political Twitter's reaction to the news Boris Johnson will be the next prime minister.
READ MORE: Renewed calls for indyref2 as Boris becomes Tory leader
READ: Nicola Sturgeon's response to Boris Johnson leadership victory
CANDIDATES AND THE OUTGOING PM
The man himself kept it fairly simple, tweeting directly to the handful of people who voted for him. He must be saving the culturally insensitive quips for another day.
Thank you all for the incredible honour you have done me. The time for campaigning is over and the time for work begins to unite our country and party, deliver Brexit and defeat Corbyn. I will work flat out to repay your confidence
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 23, 2019
The man he defeated excruciatingly used "4" to mean "four" and had no full stops, yet ended with an 90s emoji which used up three characters!
Congratulations @BorisJohnson 4 a campaign well https://t.co/b1rmrIHic6'll be a great PM for our country at this critical moment!Throughout campaign you showed optimism,energy & unbounded confidence in our wonderful country & we need that.All best wishes from the entrepreneur :-)
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 23, 2019
Theresa May's tweet, meanwhile, was as dull as you'd expect.
Many congratulations to @BorisJohnson on being elected leader of @Conservatives - we now need to work together to deliver a Brexit that works for the whole UK and to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of government. You will have my full support from the back benches.
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 23, 2019
WESTMINSTER LEADERS
Ian Blackford simply retweeted the SNP's video which said Scotland must have a choice under a Boris Brexit Britain.
🏴 Scotland must have a choice. https://t.co/E5wHzDsx0m
— The SNP (@theSNP) July 23, 2019
The leader of the opposition in name only pointed out the small amount of votes Boris required in order to move his new furniture into No 10...
Boris Johnson has won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members by promising tax cuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers' friend, and pushing for a damaging No Deal Brexit.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 23, 2019
But he hasn't won the support of our country.
...before taking the bold move to call for another General Election, despite his party's terrible polling results.
Johnson’s No Deal Brexit would mean job cuts, higher prices in the shops, and risk our NHS being sold off to US corporations in a sweetheart deal with Donald Trump.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 23, 2019
The people of our country should decide who becomes the Prime Minister in a General Election.
Arlene Foster, the leader of the party Johnson will be tasked with bribing again soon should he wish to cling on to the current volatile parliamentary arithmetic, said she looked forward to working with Johnson to deliver Brexit and restore devolution.
Congratulations to @BorisJohnson on becoming Conservative Party Leader. Look forward to discussing our shared objectives of strengthening the Union, delivering Brexit & restoring devolution. pic.twitter.com/P8VV82UXAV
— Arlene Foster (@DUPleader) July 23, 2019
The new leader of the LibDem, who earlier in the day ruled out working in coalition with the Tories for a second time, said that Britain deserves better.
Boris Johnson has shown time and time again that he isn’t fit to be the Prime Minister of our country.
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) July 23, 2019
Britain deserves better than Boris Johnson. https://t.co/ZkcEMzxJin#JoinJo
Plaid Cymru's leader at Westminster took a slightly different tack, thanking the new PM for his "gift" to Welsh independence.
Note to Mr B Johnson: thank you for your gift to the Welsh independence movement@Plaid_Cymru https://t.co/CbIJmhXiwH
— Liz Saville Roberts AS/MP (@LSRPlaid) July 23, 2019
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's sole MP, like Corbyn pointed to the tiny number of votes it required to elect the worst foreign secretary ever as the next prime ministerh.
Boris Johnson may win the keys to Number 10 today
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) July 23, 2019
But Parliament is sovereign in Britain and we will
* stand up to his bigotry
* expose his lies
* fight his No Deal Brexit#NotInOurNamehttps://t.co/v9dZMbOIUy
HOLYROOD LEADERS
In a series of tweets, Nicola Sturgeon fired off a blog-post length post in which she congratulated Johnson before banging on about independence...
1. Congratulations to Boris Johnson on his election as leader of the Conservative Party. Despite our many differences, I will do all I can to develop a way of working with him that respects and protects Scotland’s views and interests.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) July 23, 2019
... *thought Ruth Davidson before tweeting about independence*
Statement. Interview to follow. pic.twitter.com/d30QpKYfwb
— Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonMSP) July 23, 2019
Following Davidson's lead, in a bid to use as many words while making as few salient points as possible (you're welcome...), Richard Leonard posted a screenshot of words typed into another platform which allows him to use more redundant characters. In the same way a footballer does when he leaves a club, thanking everyone who supported them during their four and a half month loan spell.
My full statement on the election of @BorisJohnson as Tory leader: pic.twitter.com/zlSAsgk3MW
— Richard Leonard (@LabourRichard) July 23, 2019
Patrick Harvie, meanwhile, used the hashtag #NotMyPM, which is definitely going to make a difference...
If Johnson goes ahead with his threat to slash income tax on the highest earners, Scotland certainly won't copy him. But we must go further, make more progress toward progressive, redistributive policies. The income & wealth gap is already obscene, and must be closed. #NotMyPM
— Patrick Harvie 🇪🇺🌈 (@patrickharvie) July 23,
Willie Rennie (who I genuinely just forgot about when searching for the Scottish LibDem leader there), rounded off the smoking-hot Twitter content by joking about possibly the only thing worse than a Boris Brexit Britain.
When faced with a choice of Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn it’s pretty obvious that Jo Swinson should be in charge.
— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) July 23, 2019
OTHERS
Remember the guy who pretty much ruled out serving under Johnson, only to squirm on camera when he changed his mind?
WATCH: David Mundell squirms when asked about old Boris Johnson quote
Aye, well he said we should all unite behind his new leader.
I congratulate Boris Johnson on his clear win in the leadership contest. Our party must now unite behind the new leader and Prime Minister, so we can get on with the job of delivering Brexit, whilst maintaining a strong United Kingdom
— David Mundell (@DavidMundellDCT) July 23, 2019
The second part of the punchline of that 2015 joke, which few of us thought would actually come true, has predicted Boris "will be great!!". We look forward to him pretending he never said this after the shitshow that is about to unfold.
Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2019
Following in the footsteps of her father, some questionable spelling in a now-deleted tweet from Ivanka.
... and finally, I we've saved parhaps the weirdest tweet of the day for last:
Congratulations @BorisJohnson on becoming Leader. Honour to serve in turn as Minister of Environment @DefraGovUK, Mid East +Asia @DFID_UK, Africa @FCO, Prisons @MoJGovUK + then Development Secretary in Cabinet +NSC. Backbench tomorrow serving Cumbria. Thank you all. More walking! pic.twitter.com/2PVLTaGXXR
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) July 23, 2019
To think that man was in with a shout of becoming prime minister not so long ago...
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