Conservative politician and home secretary, Theresa May, won the first round of voting in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister on Tuesday – a position that will include steering the country out of its current political and economic crisis, following last month’s shocking decision by voters to leave the European Union.
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May, who has served as Britain’s Home Secretary since 2010, won votes from 165 lawmakers – or more than half of the Conservative parliamentarians who cast ballots.
Mrs Leadsom, the energy minister, received 66 votes, and the justice secretary, 48.
He came fourth out of five in the first ballot, with the fifth-placed man, Liam Fox, eliminated.
May, who was tipped to be the second female prime minister of the United Kingdom, polled 165 votes, ahead of Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb, who polled 66, 48 and 34 votes respectively.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab, who is backing Mr Gove for leader, said: “We are going to be aiming to pick up the aspirational society votes and the Brexit votes, and let’s face it, the big beast votes”.
But May, who pitches herself as a pragmatic safe pair of hands capable of unifying the split Tories, says she will not start the formal departure process until the end of the year at the earliest.
Mr Crabb could have gone on to the next round of voting but has chose to withdraw from the contest.
The final result will be announced on September 9.
The prime minister himself did not take part in the vote to choose his successor and is not expected to express a preference for any of the candidates.
In a statement accepting his elimination, Dr Fox said: “I am very grateful to those colleagues who supported me in the ballot today”.
Her campaign manager, Tim Loughton MP, said it was “not an issue” and told the BBC she would publish a summary “as soon as she gets time away from speaking to colleagues and fighting this campaign”.
“There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the European Union, and to make Britain work for everyone”, May said following the vote. “I’ll be lending my wholehearted support to Theresa May”.
Mr Fox – who has previously said the new leader must be a Brexit supporter, given the result of the referendum – announced that he would now be backing, and campaigning for, Mrs May.
The home secretary secured the backing of 165 Conservative MPs in the first round of voting on Tuesday evening.
The former London mayor – who saw his own leadership hopes dashed after a devastating personal attack by Michael Gove – said she had “the zap, the drive and the determination” to lead the country.
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Clarke: “I don’t think the membership will vote for Gove”.
