Cameron had previously said he wouldn’t seek a third term as leader if the Conservatives were reelected in 2020.
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The new leader, Britain’s Home Secretary – in charge of immigration and law and order – for the past six years, has the tough task of calming the country, and the financial markets, after the massive upheaval that has followed the June 23 referendum.
Outgoing PM David Cameron today explained how legalising gay marriage led to one of his favourite moments in the job.
The Labour leader also issued a defiant message to Labour MPs trying to unseat him, saying: “Democracy is a wonderful thing and I’m enjoying every minute of it!”
“When we take the big calls, we’ll think not of the powerful, but you”.
Mrs May has said that there will not be an election…
“Nothing really is impossible, if you put your mind to it”, he said, as MPs on all sides of the Commons united to clap him on his exit.
During her campaign, May have refused to give a guarantee on the matter, only saying that the European Union nationals’ status will be part of the negotiations. “I will miss the barbs of the opposition”, Cameron said, promising to watch future exchanges as a regular Conservative Party lawmaker on the back benches.
“When I first stood here in Downing Street in that evening in May 2010 I said we would confront our problems as a country and lead people through hard divisions so that together we could reach better times”, Cameron said. “Other than one meeting this afternoon with Her Majesty the Queen, my diary for the rest of the day is remarkably light”, he said.
Cameron, often praised for his statesman-like demeanour, cut a more relaxed figure as he laid into his political rival Jeremy Corbyn, whose own future is subject to a protracted and acrimonious battle within the opposition Labour Party.
Earlier, Mr Cameron held a final rowdy and mainly good humoured Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.
Cameron’s wife Samantha and their children were in the front row of the public gallery for the event.
Cameron will tell the queen at Buckingham Palace he is resigning and suggest that Home Secretary Theresa May has the support to become prime minister.
She will be Britain’s second female PM after Margaret Thatcher.
“But we must also acknowledge that, despite all his promises, he leaves the country in a state of insecurity and huge economic uncertainty”.
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She is unlikely to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – which will formally launch the process of separation and start the clock ticking on a two-year countdown to Britain’s actual departure – until next year. De Maiziere said in Berlin on Wednesday: “She is a smart woman – thoughtful, disciplined, competent, strong in negotiations. and critical too, but reliable and credible”. Cameron had backed the “Remain” in the bloc campaign.
