Grassroots Conservatives, 150,000 party members, across the country will now vote to decide whether May or Leadsom becomes Britain’s first woman prime minister since Margaret Thatcher was forced from office in 1990.
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On Thursday, Member of Parliament Michael Gove was eliminated during the second round of voting by MPs for leadership of the Conservative Party, which now has control of Parliament.
According to ConservativeHome, a website of the party, May had the support of 159 lawmakers of the party’s 330 members of parliament who had declared their preference, Leadsom had 48 and Gove 27.
Current Prime Minister David Cameron resigned after finishing on the losing side in the referendum which resulted in a vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
Conservative Party leadership candidates Theresa May, left, and Andrea Leadsom remain in the running to be the next UK PM.
“After the Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom has to urgently get its political act together”, El-Erian told Reuters in a telephone interview.
It had led May to urge her supporters to not vote tactically as she once again called for a “proper contest”. The victor will be declared on September 9.
“I now apologize sincerely on behalf of my party for the disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq in March 2003”, Corbyn said Wednesday.
She said: “My commiserations to Michael [Gove] but I’m absolutely delighted with the results. In all the hustings debates, Andrea more than held her own”.
Asked if there would be risks if Mrs Leadsom became prime minister, Mr Fallon replied: “I’m not going to knock her opponent but I’m committed to Theresa May, I’ve worked with her on security day in, day out”.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who is backing Mrs Leadsom, said on Twitter that every female politician who is a mum should draw on their motherhood.
Justice Minister Gove shocked fellow-Conservatives last week by abruptly withdrawing his support for former London Mayor, Boris Johnson, previously seen as the leadership front-runner, and effectively forcing him from the race.
He said Mrs Leadsom had come under pressure in the last week, but events had been “nothing like as pressurised as the prime minister’s job”.
Mrs May voted Remain and kept a low profile throughout but has banked on her experience as Home Secretary to portray an image as a steady and capable leader who can unify the party.
Whoever replaces David Cameron will have to unite a fractured party and steer a divided country through tough negotiations as it cuts ties with the European Union.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing Mrs Leadsom, said she had “steel” but within the “velvet glove of compassion”.
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Although Mrs Leadsom is known to be more socially conservative than home secretary Mrs May, Mr Loughton said: “There is nothing traditional about Andrea in this respect…”
