Her campaign chief, Tim Loughton MP, made note of the fact that the next prime minister will be the country’s first female leader since Margaret Thatcher, who led the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
Advertisement
The race to become the next British prime minister is down to two women, Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.
Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom are to battle it out for the job of Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, as Michael Gove is knocked out of the Tory leadership race.
Five Conservative contenders had initially been campaigning for Cameron’s post, but that number is now down to two, with results expected to be announced on September 9.
He said he was pleased the next prime minister will be a woman and said May and Leadsom were “formidable politicians” and either one of them would “lead the country well”.
In the second round of voting, May scooped up 199 votes; Leadsom had 84 and Gove was eliminated with 46, two votes fewer than he received in the first round.
May, 59, backed 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.
Cameron announced his resignation after unsuccessfully campaigning for Britain to vote “remain” in the June 23 referendum that asked voters whether the United Kingdom should stay in the European Union.
Next, the two women will face off for votes among Conservative Party members.
Ms Leadsom herself has insisted she has “no allegiances” to Ukip, and one of her key Conservative supporters today stressed that it was Tory members, not Ukip activists, who would decide the next leader.
“Getting more than half is a real sign”, Damian Green, who is working on May’s campaign, told reporters after the result was announced in the House of Commons.
Boris Johnson confirmed he would not run for prime minister and lent his support to Andrea Leadsom.
A former banker and MP since 2010, she’s far less well-known than her competitor. “Hey, that’s pretty quirky for the Tory party”, Loughton added. She has less political experience than May and has faced allegations from rivals that she exaggerated her experience in the financial sector. She is clearly the person they believe is best suited to lead us. Michael Gove, the justice secretary, was expected to support Johnson.
Advertisement
May, the government’s formidable interior minister, is the bookies’ favorite to defeat Leadsom, a legislator who emerged as a star of the victorious “leave” campaign in Britain’s European Union referendum.
