“Take back control”: the slogan was repeated over over again by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson during Britain’s European Union referendum campaign and arguably helped tip the balance in many voters’ minds, persuading them to back the UK’s withdrawal.
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Gove is up against May and three other candidates to succeed Cameron as party leader and prime minister.
Perhaps even more suprising is Gove’s defense of the American pilgrims, encouraging British children to emulate the early immigrants to America who fled England for religious freedom. “The best person to lead Britain out of the European Union is someone who argued to get Britain out of the European Union”, he said.
After that, the choice will be thrown out to approximately 150,000 Conservative members, who – unless there is a highly unlikely snap general election announcement in the intervening period – will effectively decide who the country’s next prime minister will be.
The writer of House of Cards himself, Michael Dobbs, a former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, criticised the way the leadership contest was developing – comparing it to a “posh boys’ punch up”.
Nominations for leading the Conservative party closed on Thursday and the victor will be announced on September 9.
“I came to realise this week that, for all Boris’ formidable talents, he was not the right person for the task”.
A “YouGov” poll for “The Times” of 1,000 Conservative Party members put May ahead on 36 percent with Johnson on 27 percent.
The leadership battle has been sparked by David Cameron’s decision to step down as prime minister after losing the European Union (EU) referendum, which saw the country vote by 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the EU.
She added she was “ready and able to do the job from day one”. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated in the first round of voting, and the process repeated until only two remain, at which point the contest is opened up to a vote among the full Conservative membership, with a victor announced on 9 September.
He revealed he made a decision to run late on Wednesday night after coming to the conclusion that fellow Vote Leave campaigner Mr Johnson could not provide the unity or the leadership to take Britain out of the European Union.
Rivals Stephen Crabb, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox are also in the running to lead the Conservative Party and become United Kingdom prime minister.
As the political drama played out, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned about “heightened uncertainty”, noting the potential for increased unemployment and spillover to the global economy.
The justice minister, who torpedoed fellow anti-EU campaigner Boris Johnson’s leadership hopes on Thursday, also said he would pull Britain out of the single market, end free movement of people and impose a new immigration system favouring skilled workers.
“I never thought I’d ever be in this position”, he said”.
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“Knowing Boris Johnson, he probably doesn’t think this is the last chance for him”, said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London.
