Theresa May will on Wednesday become the prime minister tasked with leading Britain’s into Brexit talks after her only rival in the race to succeed David Cameron pulled out unexpectedly.
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Theresa May says she is “honoured” and “humbled” to be the new Conservative leader as she prepares to take over from David Cameron as prime minister on Wednesday.
“I have, however, concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported prime minister”.
“Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it”. “Our country needs strong, proven leadership to steer us through this time of economic and political uncertainty and to negotiate the best deal for Britain as we leave the European Union and forge a new role for ourselves in the world”, May said. He announced his resignation after the country voted in a referendum last month to leave the European Union.
Leadsom, who campaigned for a Brexit vote, said May, who campaigned for “Remain”, was “ideally placed” to take the United Kingdom out of the EU.
May became the only contender after Andrea Leadsom – who had stirred a storm for suggesting she was more qualified to be premier because she had children – abruptly quit the race on Monday.
May will be the second female prime minister of Britain, following only Margaret Thatcher.
Leadsom’s announcement came after a weekend uproar over her comments about the role of motherhood in politics.
Though Britain’s decision to leave the European Union isn’t a primary topic of discussion, the finance ministers have a number of thorny issues to address that have been elevated in the wake of the referendum result, such as the financial health of Italian banks.
Five Conservative Party members raised their hand for the job, and three were voted out, one by one, by their party colleagues in Parliament.
May has not been officially confirmed as prime minister, but it looks likely she will and that even the wider party will have no say in it at all.
The energy minister has drawn fierce criticism in the past week, accused of exaggerating her professional experience on her CV, and making claims that she was better placed to run the country than May because she is a mother.
On the latest in a string of recent astonishing days at Westminster, Eagle also launched her bid to take over the Labour leadership.
Mr Cameron’s departure had not been expected to take place until after the end of a ballot of 150,000 Conservative members on a new leader on 9 September. “The markets are likely to be more positive on Theresa May, as much for the greater political calm that her victory should engender”.
In her speech Monday, Leadsom made no mention of The Times article and its role in sensationalizing her quotes – she had previously been quoted as saying she was “disgusted” by them – but sought to back May as leader-in-waiting. May was 120 miles away in Birmingham formally launching her leadership campaign when Leadsom spoke outside her London campaign office.
She also faces calls to seek a mandate from voters well before the next scheduled national election in 2020, although there is no legal requirement for her to do so. “She’d have to really mess it up not to win”, he said.
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Leadsom fought back, denouncing the Times article on Twitter as “gutter journalism” and saying in a televised statement: “I want to be crystal clear that everyone has an equal stake in our society and in the future of our country”.
