Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (File photo: Daniel Leal / AFP)
London: Britain's former prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Friday that he was joining the right-wing broadcaster GB News, the latest Conservative politician to take a presenting role on the contentious channel.
The scandal-tarred Johnson, who was ousted from power last year by Tory MPs and quit as a lawmaker in June, will start his new "presenter, programme maker and commentator" post in early 2024, GB News said.
The channel was launched in mid-2021, billing itself as a right-wing, pro-Brexit competitor to mainstream broadcasters such as the BBC and Sky News, and has stoked controversy ever since.
It has drawn comparisons to the US network Fox News for its unabashedly populist agenda, blurring the distinction between fact-based reporting and opinion while hiring high-profile right-wingers.
In its latest setback, the channel sacked two of its presenters this month after an on-air sexism row that generated nearly 8,500 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom.
Ofcom has opened several probes into GB News over alleged breaches of the broadcasting code of neutrality for TV news outlets, after its hiring of several prominent members of the ruling Conservatives as presenters.
Johnson, 59, said he was "excited" to be joining "an insurgent channel with a loyal and growing following", saying he would be offering his "frank opinions on world affairs".
"I will be talking about the immense opportunities for Global Britain -- as well as the challenges -- and why our best days are yet to come," he said.
GB News's editorial director Michael Booker called Johnson "the most influential prime minister of our generation".
"As well as his political skills, he's an incredibly talented journalist and author," he said.
Johnson, a former Daily Telegraph columnist who currently writes a weekly column for The Daily Mail, first worked as a journalist for The Times, where he was sacked for making up a quote.
He moved on to become Brussels correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, where he made his name writing exaggerated claims about the European Union, including purported plans to standardise the sizes of condoms and bananas.
He then entered politics, becoming an MP in 2001 and later serving two terms as London mayor before realising his life-long dream of being prime minister in 2019.
