So the British Conservative Party (the party now in power) held formal elections, and on Tuesday the field narrowed to two candidates: Home Secretary Theresa May and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom.
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Home SecretaryTheresa May launches her leadership campaign in London, Britain, June 30, 2016.
Justice Secretary Michael Gove dropped out of the race after receiving only 46 votes, leaving May and Leadsom in a head-to-head battle for the post that David Cameron is vacating.
May and Leadsom will now begin their campaigns to convince the wider Conservative party membership around the country for a final round of voting with the victor set to be declared on September 9. The victor will be announced on September 9.
“She has the experience, she is already a member of the National Security Council, she works to protect homeland security just as I deal with threats overseas like Daesh (Islamic State) and our commitments to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and we work together”.
May, 59, supported the losing “remain” side in the European Union vote but says she is the best person to unite a party that like the country is divided over the referendum result.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has tonight re-iterated his support for Andrea Leadsom.
May, who campaigned to remain in the European Union, received an endorsement from The Sun newspaper that said on its front page the “new Mrs T must be Tezza not Leadsom”.
She continued, “I have said all along that this election needs to be a proper contest”.
The result of the ballot is a slap in the face for Gove, whose ambition to lead the country lasted only a week. The news came as Mrs Leadsom was forced to defend her background amid claims that she had misrepresented her economic expertise on her CV.
It will be only the second time Britain will have a female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, who led the country from 1979 to 1990.
Mr Gove said: ‘I’m naturally disappointed that I haven’t been able to make it through to the final round of this leadership contest’.
She said Britain needed “strong, proven” leadership to handle the Brexit negotiations.
Now that Conservative MPs have had their say, the final decision will be left up to the wider membership – some 150,000party members across the country.
Responding to the result, Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader and Leave campaigner, said over Twitter: “Congratulations to [Andrea Leadsom]”.
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She told supporters she was the voice of optimism and would “banish pessimism” in the wake of the Brexit vote.
