Former UK PM Boris Johnson confident 2023 will be a better year

Boris Johnson posted an upbeat message for the year ahead on social media

Boris Johnson walks at Downing Street in London, Britain July 6, 2022. Reuters

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has said he is confident “things will get better” in the year ahead after a “pretty tumultuous” 2022 in a brief new year greeting posted on social media.

During the post, Mr Johnson made no mention of his unceremonious ejection from Downing Street – swiftly followed by his successor Liz Truss – or the cost of living crisis.

Instead Mr Johnson delivered an upbeat message on the the prospects for the economy and the opportunities opened up by Brexit following the end of the pandemic.

He said he was “more convinced than ever” that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will be defeated in Ukraine while there were signs that inflation around the world was coming down.

“2022 is tip-toeing towards the exit after a pretty tumultuous year in which we lost our beloved queen and saw the start of the worst war in Europe for 80 years,” he said.

Boris Johnson's final week in office - in pictures

“I want to tell you why I am looking forward to 2023 and why I am confident that things will get better

“Our post-Covid, post-pandemic UK will finally start to take advantage of all our new freedoms, lengthening our lead as the best place on earth to invest, to start a business, raise a family or to just hang out in the pub which is what I propose to do this New Year’s Eve.”