Britain is on track to have its second female leader after the ruling Conservative Party narrowed down its choice of someone to succeed outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron to two women.
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After the result of the MPs’ ballot was announced, Mrs May – who backed a Remain vote but kept a low profile during the campaign – said she could offer “strong, proven leadership” to negotiate the best Brexit deal for Britain and vowed to “unite our party and our country”.
Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, was eliminated from race after being pushed back into third place with just 46 votes.
The electorate’s shock decision to vote to leave on 23 June triggered the leadership contest, after Cameron, who had campaigned strongly for a remain vote, said he would step down to allow a new prime minister to guide the complex negotiations.
Andrea Leadsom, British Energy Secretary and Conservative Party leadership contender, speaks at a campaign rally on July 7, 2016 in London.
Boris Johnson, who abandoned his Tory leadership bid at the last minute, is supporting Leadsom.
Coe says he “will be at the front of the queue making sure that where that finance is available, it is being aimed at sport, which is as important to me as nearly any other activity”.
The vote was not binding, however, and the populist Corbyn enjoys strong grassroots support among Labour voters, making him a formidable opponent, even though the parliamentary party overwhelmingly would prefer another leader. The victor will be announced on September 9.
May, who supported staying in the European Union, is the party’s leading candidate. Two rounds of Conservative MP voting followed to whittle the candidates down to the final two.
Leadsom said she was “very grateful” to her team and “feeling very positive” about the future.
May, who polled 199 votes in the final ballot round, has many more years of experience in Cabinet than her rival and is well liked in the party.
She said she was delighted to have won support from “leavers and remainers, MPs from the length and breadth of the country”.
‘She’s the future. What you want is someone who’s not been in the Westminster bubble, she’s had a real job in the real world and that’s what people are looking for.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser to Europe’s largest insurer Allianz, told Reuters news agency on Thursday that the pound could sink towards parity with the dollar unless politicians got a grip.
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“This shows the party can come together under my leadership and it will”.
