BORIS JOHNSON : FOREIGN SECRETARY !

Fortunately for the UK, Andrea Leadsom finally saw sense a few days ago and Theresa May has inherited the post of Prime Minister unopposed. While some have complained that she has not been elected to the office, the quick resolution of vacancy created by David Cameron's childish and destabilising resignation can only be good news, added to the fact that the post of Prime Minister is not an elected one anyway.

Whether Mrs May will prove to be the right choice as PM is something that we will have to wait to discover, however, her initial decisions seem promising. Having campaigned, albeit quietly, for the UK to remain in the European Union, she had made it clear that 'Brexit means Brexit', and her first senior cabinet appointments certainly back this up. Chancellor George Osborne, previously seen as Prime Minister in waiting and David Cameron's 'right hand man', has been kicked out altogether. Osborne was an ardent 'Remainer' and issued numerous dire warnings about the probable economic effects of Brexit, as well as having made something of a Horlicks of his Budgets over the last 3 or 4 years. Osborne's replacement is former Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, a 'Remainer' apparently seen as a safe pair of hands.

To replace Hammond at the Foreign Office, Prime Minister May has made a real statement of intent by appointing Boris Johnson who led the Brexit campaign, while her choice for the new post of 'Brexit Secretary' is David Davis, another ardent Brexiteer. While the appointment of Davis had been suggested as a possibility, no one could have imagined seeing Boris at the Foreign Office; his bumbling, slightly dishevelled style surely does not fit with that department's imagne of itself, nonetheless, there he is. What these appointments suggest to me is that Mrs May really does mean to move pretty rapidly to get the negotiations for the UK's exit from the EU, and negotiations to sort out our independent relationship with the rest of the world, under way.

The quick confirmation of David Cameron's replacement at Number 10, has also helped to calm financial markets with the stock exchange showing some improvement from recent low levels and the pound rising somewhat against both the dollar and the Euro. While there may still be some volatility in the months and years ahead, the initial signs are that the horrors predicted by the Remain campaign were largely over-hyped.

Mrs May will reveal more of her ministerial appointments over the coming hours and we will discover more about her likely style and intentions in Government. No doubt there will be a few surprises along the way.