Get used to saying it: Prime Minister Boris Johnson. After three years of Theresa May, a General Election, Brexit, and a sprinkling of domestic policy, her tenure has now come to an end and Boris Johnson has become our next Prime Minister.

The end of uncertainty?

I am only 30 years old, but I cannot remember a period of such instability in the country. Since 2016 everything that was improbable or impossible has happened. These certainly are far from normal times. The end result has been uncertainty. Theresa May was unable to deliver on the 2016 decision. She thought a General Election in 2017 would increase her majority and power in Parliament, we know how that turned out. She creaked on since then, only to announce her resignation in May.

Since 2016, there has been much to surpress investment and confidence from the business community. Up to now, we didn’t know if we were leaving the EU with a deal or with, because of paralysis in Parliament. We have just had the deadline moved twice, now to Halloween.

But, after watching Boris today and his speech yesterday, I am somewhat convinced that he will stick to his word and bring the UK out of the EU at the end of October one way or another. We’ve certainly not had energy like that outside Number 10 or at dispatch box for the past few years, and to those who support him, or even the neutrals, it is energising to watch.

He gives you a sense of optimism. A good example of Boris at his best is just before the London 2012 Olympics when he was addressing a crowd of tens of thousands. You can find videos of that on YouTube. When his mind is on it, he can command an audience like few others can.

After his announcement, Sterling actually rose versus the Euro and Dollar. Despite others warning that his promise to take us out on a no-deal basis if a deal cannot be done would send the UK economy crashing, traders don’t seem too spooked. My theory is that traders do actually believe we will leave on October 31st. If they trust him to do that, they will know how to trade.

What it also does is ends uncertainty. Businesses (if they believe his word) know that we’re going to be leaving at the end of October. The one big question remains however, is it with a deal or not. Prudent companies should be assuming it will be a no-deal basis, and make whatever preparations they need. If we then leave with a deal, then its a bonus.

Remember, what businesses hate the most is uncertainty. If Boris can end that, take us out on the 31st October and draw a line under this unecesarily long chapter, we can move on to other things. There’s a ton of domestic policy to work through!

A divisive figure

Very much like Marmite, you either love him or hate him. He has been compared to Donald Trump in the US. I can see why. He rambles on when he makes a speech. He goes off-script. His hair is questionnable, although I still think Trump’s is worse. He’s a bumbler.

He’s also said some terrible things in the past. Like his burka “letterbox” jibe, and his absolute clanger when he ws Foreign Secretary and dealing with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. In normal circumstances just one of his various gaffs would have been enough to end his hopes of a senior political career. But these are not normal times, and Boris Johnson is not your normal politician.

Whether you like him or not, you cannot deny that he has star quality to spare. Its that energy and buzz that few others have in British politics that has allowed him to navigate through his various errors and mistakes to take him to the top job in the land.

Things will be different now. Don’t expect him to become the polished statesman we were used to pre-2016. You’re not going to get that. Instead, we can expect PMQs to probably last well over an hour each week. Long, rambling speeches that go off-topic and off-script more often than not. The gaffs will continue, no matter who he appoints as advisors and assistants. But what we’ll also get in a PM who at the very least can portray a much more positive vision than the Maybot. As professional and dutyful as she was, she couldn’t light up a room to inspire it. Boris can.

For me, the jury is still out on whether I believe he can be a great PM. His record as London Mayor is pretty good, not many can dispute that. But he let himself down as a Cabinet Minister and with his language in the past. He has some making up to do there if he is to convince the public that those days are behind him.

What I hope is that he can actually deliver on all the promises he’s making about investment in the UK, support for business, 5G, the NHS, Police numbers and the rest. If he can, then the UK has a hugely positive future ahead. But there is a lot of work to do, and Brexit is merely one, albeit large, step on that road.

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