Publically, at least, Johnson has always maintained he does not want Cameron to stand down and has rejected accusations that his decision to back the Leave campaign was politically motivated.
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At 7.25am the official result declared Britain had voted for Brexit by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent. “British policy makers and British voters have to know that there will be no kind of renegotiation”.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has talked about the leadership in the past and did little to dampen speculation by repeating her call for a woman to be on the final shortlist of two MPs which would be put to party members.
“They [the EU] have an anthem, they are building an army, they have already got their own police force, and of course they have got a flag”, Farage said.
He said: “In terms of calling the referendum, I was one of the people who campaigned for an in-out referendum because there was a popular demand for people to have a say on our European Union membership”.
After a walk through the town marked by the usual ritual of posing for selfies, signing autographs and acknowledging shouts of support from passing motorists, the former London mayor told activists: “I do think that we are on the verge, possibly, of an extraordinary event in the history of our country and indeed in the whole of Europe”.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, a fiscal hawk who is also a staunch supporter of the European project, stayed pragmatic while saying he would have preferred to see a different outcome. “It’s the largest single market in the world”, he said.
“We are talking to a country that has a lot of people who have fled persecution and contribute a massive amount to our country”. We’ve got one day left to hammer out that message; stronger, safer, better off.
Political analysts and commentators have consistently said Johnson hoped to use a vote in favor of a British exit, or Brexit, as a launching pad for national leadership. “We will be no less British as a result of cooperating with our neighbors”.
Flanked by his wife Samantha, Cameron said he had fought to retain Britain’s membership of the European Union “head, heart and soul – I held nothing back”. “Britain remaining in the European Union would mean the opposite: more certainty, more trade and more jobs”. He said there’s a “serious risk” that the United Kingdom could lose access to the EU’s common market – putting British exporters at a disadvantage.
In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has united with her four living predecessors to back a vote for the UK to remain in the EU. Some published since Cox’s murder have suggested a slight lead for Remain, though often within the margin of error.
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Flanked by wife Samantha, he said that while he would do everything he could to “steady the ship” over the coming weeks and months, he was not the right person to be “the captain that steers our country to its next destination” and would hand over to a new leader by the time of the Conservative Party conference.
