Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (Photo: Twitter/ @narendramodi)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

"Congratulations @BorisJohnson on assuming office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I wish you success and look forward to working with you to further strengthen India - UK partnership in all spheres. @10DowningStreet," Modi twote on Twitter.

Beginning a new chapter in the British politics, Boris Johnson on Wednesday officially became the Prime Minister of the country, following the official step down of his predecessor Theresa May.

Johnson visited Buckingham Palace where he met Queen Elizabeth II for over half an hour. The Royal family tweeted an image of Johnson with the queen and confirmed that he has been asked to form the government, reported CNN.

Johnson on Tuesday had won the race to become the head of the conservative party after securing 92,153 votes to his rival Jeremy Hunt's 46,656 votes. 1,60,000 grassroots Conservative party members across the UK had voted to choose the next occupant of 10 Downing Street after May's departure. </s> • Johnson traveled to the Palace to be anointed prime minister by the Queen.
• However, activists formed a human chain which briefly stopped his car.
• Police intervened to break up the protest.

A group of protesters formed a human chain in front of the car taking Boris Johnson to Buckingham Palace.

Protesters in red t-shirts held hands and stood across the Mall – the road leading to the Palace – as Johnson was making his way to meet the Queen and be anointed as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Climate change-fighting group Greenpeace has claimed responsibility for the stunt.

Police quickly intervened to break up the protest and allow Johnson’s car to continue to the Palace.

Johnson succeeded Theresa May as prime minister on Wednesday after winning the Conservative party leadership contest. He comfortably defeated rival Jeremy Hunt, winning 66% of votes cast by party members. </s> The Queen invited the new Tory leader to become Prime Minister during an audience at Buckingham Palace this afternoon. But Mr Johnson broke royal protocol when he went on to share what Her Majesty said to him when they met, Euronews and NBC News journalist Vincent McAviney claimed.

The reporter tweeted that Mr Johnson said the Queen told him: “I don’t know why anyone would want the job [of Prime Minister].” McAviney added: “The PM revealed it during a tour in Number 10 before being told off by staff not to repeat those things so loudly.” In a statement Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen received in Audience The Right Honourable Boris Johnson MP this afternoon and requested him to form a new Administration.

“Mr Johnson accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.” Following his meeting with the Queen, the new Prime Minister delivered a rousing speech outside 10 Downing Street. He said: “I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor and her deep sense of public service, but in spite of all her efforts, it has become clear that there are pessimists at home and abroad who think after three years of indecision that this country has become a prisoner to the old arguments of 2016 and in this home of democracy we are incapable of honouring a democratic mandate. “And so I am standing before you today, to tell you the British people, that those critics are wrong - the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters are going to get it wrong again.

“The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts because we are going to restore trust in our democracy. “And we are going to fulfil the repeated promises of Parliament to the people and come out of the EU on October 31 no ifs or buts. “And we will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe based on free trade and mutual support. </s> (LONDON) — Buckingham Palace says that Theresa May has tendered her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, clearing the way for Boris Johnson to become the new prime minister of the United Kingdom.

The monarch accepted, setting in train the handover of power.

Johnson arrived at the palace a short time later on Wednesday, having been briefly interrupted by climate protesters who formed a human chain attempting to stop his motorcade. </s> LONDON, June 20 — Boris Johnson, the front-runner in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, increased his support among lawmakers in the fourth round of the Conservative Party leadership contest today.

Johnson got 157 out of 313 votes. Environment minister Michael Gove came second with 61 votes, overtaking Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who got 59 votes.

Interior minister Sajid Javid was fourth with 34 votes and was eliminated from the contest. Two votes were declared invalid.

A fifth ballot later today will determine the final two candidates. Then Conservative Party grassroots members will decide who will become leader, and Britain’s next prime minister, by the end of July. — Reuters </s> COMBO FILE – In this file four-photo combo image of various recent dates, showing the contenders still placed to become leader of the Conservative Party, Wednesday June 19, 2019, with from left: Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid. Rory Stewart has dropped out of the contest Wednesday. Britain’s Conservative Party will continue to hold elimination votes until the final two contenders will be put to a vote of party members nationwide, with the winner due to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as party leader and prime minister. (AP FILE Photo combo)

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s next prime minister will be a man in his 50s who went to Oxford University — either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt, the two finalists selected Thursday in a race to lead the governing Conservative Party.

Johnson , a flamboyant former foreign secretary and ex-mayor of London, topped a ballot of 313 Conservative lawmakers with 160 votes and is runaway favorite to become the party’s next leader. He has led in all five voting rounds of a contest that began last week with 10 contenders.

Hunt , Britain’s current foreign secretary, came a distant second with 77 votes and will join Johnson in a runoff decided by 160,000 party members across Britain.

Johnson tweeted that he was honored to have gotten more than half the votes cast by party lawmakers. He said “I look forward to getting out across the U.K. and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us.”

Hunt said on Twitter that he knew he was the underdog “but in politics surprises happen.”

The winner of the runoff, due to be announced the week of July 22, will become the new Conservative leader and the country’s next prime minister, replacing Theresa May.

Hunt edged out Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who got 75 votes, after Home Secretary Sajid Javid was eliminated earlier Thursday.

The result spares Johnson a showdown with Gove, his former ally-turned-archrival. The two men jointly led the “leave” campaign in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum, but Gove scuttled Johnson’s subsequent bid to become prime minister by deciding to run for the job himself, in a race ultimately won by May.

This time around, many in the party doubt that anyone can beat 55-year-old Johnson, a quick-witted, Latin-spouting extrovert admired for his ability to connect with voters, but mistrusted for his erratic performance in high office and his long record of inaccurate, misleading and sometimes offensive comments.

“Boris will say absolutely anything in order to please an audience,” historian Max Hastings told the BBC on Thursday. “Boris would have told the passengers on the Titanic that rescue was imminent.”

Hunt, who has been culture secretary and health secretary, is considered an experienced, competent minister, but unexciting. The 52-year-old politician bills himself as the “serious” candidate, in an implicit contrast to Johnson. He will try to halt Johnson’s momentum by picking away at his rival’s plans for Brexit as the two speak to party members at meetings across the country over the next few weeks.

Both Johnson and Hunt vow they will lead Britain out of the European Union, a challenge that defeated May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after failing to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal.

Brexit, originally scheduled to take place on March 29, has been postponed twice amid political deadlock in London.

Johnson has won backing from the party’s die-hard Brexiteers by insisting the U.K. must leave the bloc on the rescheduled date of Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal to smooth the way.

He also is supported — somewhat paradoxically — by some Tory moderates who claim Johnson has the skills to unite the party and win back voters from rival parties on both the left and the right.

“The essence of Boris Johnson is a unifier,” he said.

Hunt backed the losing “remain” side in the referendum, a disadvantage in a party whose rank-and-file members are overwhelmingly pro-Brexit. Hunt now insists he is determined to go through with Brexit and says his past in business, running an educational publishing firm, gives him the experience to negotiate with the EU.

Hunt says he would seek another postponement of Brexit if that is needed to secure a deal, but only for a short time.

Critics say neither candidate has a realistic plan. The EU is adamant that it won’t reopen the Brexit agreement it struck with May’s government, which has been rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Thursday that “the withdrawal agreement is not going to be reopened.”

He also said there was “enormous hostility to any further extension” of the Brexit deadline among the other 27 EU leaders.

Many economists and businesses warn that leaving the EU without a deal on divorce terms and future relations would cause economic turmoil as tariffs and other disruptions are imposed on trade between Britain and the EU.

U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond warned that a no-deal Brexit would put Britain’s prosperity at risk and leave the economy “permanently smaller.”

“The question to the candidates is not ‘What is your plan?’ but ‘What is your Plan B?'” Hammond said in extracts from a speech he was giving Thursday night.

Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> British Conservative party leadership and prime minister contender Boris Johnson leaves his home in south London, Thursday June 20, 2019. The race to become Britain’s next prime minister is down to the final four on Wednesday, as Boris Johnson stretched his lead among Conservative lawmakers and upstart Rory Stewart was eliminated from the contest. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on choosing Britain’s next prime minister (all times local):

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will compete to become Britain’s next prime minister in a runoff vote by members of the governing Conservative Party.

Johnson, a former U.K. foreign secretary, and Hunt, who holds that office now, are the last candidates standing after a series of elimination votes by Conservative lawmakers. Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Environment Secretary Michael Gove were culled from the race on Thursday.

Johnson got 160 of the votes cast by 313 Tory lawmakers in the final round, and is strong favorite to win the ballot of some 160,000 party members.

Hunt, who got 77 votes, will seek to halt Johnson’s momentum by picking away at Johnson’s plans for Brexit as the two speak to meetings of party members across the country.

The winner is due to be announced in late July, and will replace Theresa May as party leader and prime minister.

The contest to become Britain’s next prime minister is down to its final three candidates, with Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt chasing front-runner Boris Johnson for a spot in a deciding runoff.

Johnson gained 157 of 313 votes cast by Conservative lawmakers Thursday in their fourth round of voting. Gove received 61, leapfrogging Hunt, who has been in second place until now but got 59.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid came fourth with 34 votes and drops out.

A second vote Thursday will select the final two contenders, who will go to a by-mail ballot of all 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

The winner is due to be announced in late July, and will replace Theresa May as party leader and prime minister.

Britain’s governing Conservatives were set to pick two candidates who will square off to become the country’s next prime minister.

Tory lawmakers will vote to eliminate two contenders from a four-strong field that includes ex-foreign minister and London mayor Boris Johnson, current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Johnson has a commanding lead after three rounds of voting that cut the list from an initial 10 contenders. The three others are battling to join him in a runoff to be decided by 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

All the candidates are vowing to lead Britain out of the European Union, a challenge that defeated outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after failing to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal.

The winner of the contest, due to be announced the week of July 22, will become Conservative leader and prime minister.

Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> LONDON — Boris Johnson arrives at Buckingham Palace to be appointed Britain’s next prime minister.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> A secret vote among Tory lawmakers on Tuesday saw former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab drop out of the race for party leader and gaffe-prone Boris Johnson extend his lead over the remaining four rivals.

Johnson, who served as London mayor and foreign secretary in Theresa May's government, won 126 out 313 votes on Tuesday. This was 12 more votes than in the first poll held last Thursday.

The Tory lawmakers were set to hold several more votes to trim the candidate list down to two names. Some 160,000 members of the UK Conservative party will then decide on the next party leader, who is virtually guaranteed to become next prime minister.

Johnson has a strong public profile based on his career as a political columnist and his leading role in the 2016 campaign to leave the European Union. He also has deep ties inside the Tory party establishment as a son of a Conservative party politician and alumni of Eton and Oxford. Johnson attended the two elite schools together with former prime minister David Cameron.

Johnson's flamboyant personality has helped him shrug off multiple scandals during his time in the public eye, including lying about an extramarital affair, flippant descriptions of Africans, gays, and Muslim women, and jokes about "dead bodies" in Libya.

The 54-year-old politician said he was ready to take the UK out of the EU by October 31 deadline, whether or not a deal was in place. He also threatened to withhold €44 billion ($50 billion) in divorce payments that the UK owes the EU.

The latest score puts Johnson far ahead his closest rival, Jeremy Hunt. Hunt, who succeeded Johnson as foreign secretary and picked up 46 of Tory lawmakers' votes on Tuesday. He is followed by Environment Minister Michael Gove with 41, Internal Development Minister Rory Stewart with 37, and Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who only managed to meet the 33-vote threshold allowing him to continue the race.

Raab was eliminated after scoring only 30 votes.

Moderate Rory Stewart, who was dubbed as an outsider in the race, boosted his score by 18 votes compared to his last week's score. Stewart is the only candidate who is openly in favor of trying to save the divorce deal negotiated by the current prime minister Theresa May.

On Tuesday, he accused Johnson of peddling "fairy tales" about solving the Brexit issue.

A new prime minister should be voted in by the end of July.

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Johnson is asked by the Queen to form a government, making him the 55th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.