HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

The man himself. Johnson, who’s been accused of being racist and Islamaphobic in the past, is still the most popular figure in the Tory Party, according to YouGov polling. He’s often been compared to U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom he has a warm relationship. He was also one of the main proponents of Brexit in 2016 and was openly critical of the deal with the EU that current Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated (as was the rest of Parliament, which rejected the deal multiple times). Now he’ll be expected to deliver on many optimistic promises he’s made about leaving the EU.

The way forward. Johnson has promised to deliver a no-deal Brexit if necessary. But while the U.K. Parliament has never been clear about what it wants out of Brexit, it’s been relatively united against leaving with no deal, especially since many fear it’ll lead to a recession. Johnson may end up calling a general election, though that risky strategy didn’t pay off for his predecessor, who lost seats in 2017. Johnson’s current majority is just two seats.

No replay. Though May lost seats in 2017, the electoral picture is now quite different. Conservatives and Labour Party members are still polling within a whisker of one another, but each has the support of only about a quarter of the electorate, and the Liberal Democrats and Brexit Party have about 18 percent support each. That means a general election — which Johnson has sworn he won’t hold before Brexit’s deadline of Oct. 31 — could see the Conservative Party lose even the slim majority it currently holds. Also in danger: Johnson’s own parliamentary seat in Uxbridge, which is seeing a strong Labour challenger already laying the groundwork to try to unseat him.

Other options. Parliament is not likely to ratify a deal it’s already rejected several times with no changes, and the U.K. isn’t expected to reopen the terms of the agreement. Other possible but unlikely options include Parliament allowing no-deal to go through, or canceling Brexit altogether — though that would probably enrage the hard Brexiters who put Johnson in power.

WHAT TO READ

We Need the ‘Can Do’ Spirit of 1960s America to Help Us Get Out of the EU, by Boris Johnson in The Telegraph
“There is no task so simple that government cannot overcomplicate if it doesn’t want to do it. And there are few tasks so complex that humanity cannot solve if we have a real sense of mission to pull them off.”

Boris Johnson Is About to Collide With Reality, by the Editorial Board of The New York Times
“His record as journalist, legislator, London mayor and foreign secretary displays far more bluster than achievement, and a consistent disdain for hard work, probity or the truth.”

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