His successor, Conservative Party leader Theresa May, was headed to the palace to meet with the queen.
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In his final Prime Minister’s Questions at Parliament, outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron opened Wednesday with the quip that “apart from one meeting in the afternoon with the Queen, my diary is remarkably light”.
Soon afterward the palace released a photo of May curtseying to the monarch at the palace. May as the victor of the race and Britain’s next prime minister.
Association chairman Tim Patmore said: “We are confident that Theresa May will provide the strong, proven leadership which the country needs through some uncertain economic and political times“.
He wished May the best, especially as she negotiates the country’s “Brexit” from the European Union.
The warmth in the House of Commons culminated in loud applause and a standing ovation from his Conservative colleagues for Cameron, 49, who is resigning after voters rejected his advice and made a decision to leave the European Union.
PMQs is usually a rowdy event, involving combative exchanges between Cameron and the leader of the main opposition Labour Party while lawmakers from both parties boo and cheer.
He ended by referring to a jibe he directed at then-Prime Minister Tony Blair more than a decade ago: “He was the future once”. Florence – you once climbed into one before a foreign trip and said: “Take me with you”.
The “Brexit” has resulted in an intense political divide within the Labor Party, with many accusing leader Jeremy Corbyn of failing to campaign fervently enough for “Remain”.
“Sadly I can’t take Larry with me”, Mr. Cameron said in Parliament to laughter. The cat, which holds the title of chief mouser to the cabinet office, was rescued from an animal shelter during Mr. Cameron’s first year in office to help handle a problem with rodents. And that, in the end – the public service, the national interest – that is what it’s all about. May on the other hand is in no hurry, and has said what she wants: market access without immigration.
Although she favoured Britain remaining in Europe, Mrs May has repeatedly declared that “Brexit means Brexit” and that there can be no attempt to reverse the referendum outcome.
Britain’s new prime minister Theresa May is set to begin drawing up her new top team and is expected to increase the number of women in government. One of the hardest parts of the job will be selling whatever deal is reached to those within the Conservative Party who, unlike May, campaigned for Britain to leave.
May is already under pressure to set out a timetable for Brexit from European Union leaders who warn that a delay could prolong damaging economic uncertainty. After Wednesday, “I will watch these exchanges from the backbenches”, he said.
“As I leave today, I hope that people will see a stronger country, a thriving economy, and more chances to get on in life”.
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Cameron, 49, will be the youngest prime minister to leave office since the Earl of Rosebery in 1895.
