May won the leadership battle and quickly sacked Gove, who is now seen as treacherous by many Conservatives.
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Nevertheless, her promotion to the job of home secretary when the Conservatives joined with the Lib Dems to form the first coalition government in 70 years was still something of a surprise – given that Chris Grayling had been shadowing the brief in opposition.
Johnson’s certainly not the obvious choice for Britain’s top diplomat.
In April, Johnson suggested that U.S.
Johnson made the comments earlier in May this year while criticising US President Barack Obama’s intervention in the European Union debate. But Tony Travers of the London School of Economics said May probably would not rush to trigger Article 50 of the European Union constitution, which starts a two-year countdown to a departure from Europe.
“The Cabinet works collectively and we have got a range of different characters and a range of different styles and a range of different talent”, he told BBC radio.
Cameron used his final day in office to try to stake a claim on a legacy beyond his status as the prime minister who – by gambling on a referendum – took Britain out of the EU.
Johnson, London’s popular former mayor, helped the “leave” campaign win last month’s referendum.
In 1976, in her third year, she met her husband Philip, who was president of the Oxford Union, a well-known breeding ground for future political leaders.
He is also a formidable battler, as May knows.
Until Wednesday, May was the home secretary.
The blond, Latin-speaking Johnson – a leader of the campaign for a British exit, or Brexit – had aspired to be prime minister himself before his bid failed because of party infighting.
She is unlikely to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – which will formally launch the process of separation and start the clock ticking on a two-year countdown to Britain’s actual departure – until next year.
EU leaders, however, are pressuring Britain to open formal exit talks sooner – and warning that the United Kingdom can not have access to the single European market of 500 million people without accepting the free movement of EU citizens, a sticking point for many pro-Brexit Britons.
Russian President Putin also “reaffirmed his commitment to pursue constructive dialogue and work together with the British Prime Minister on pressing issues of the bilateral relationship and the global agenda”, said a Kremlin statement.
But EU leaders have made clear that free movement is a fundamental principle that goes hand-in-hand with access to the bloc’s tariff-free single market, a stance that will hugely complicate May’s task in hammering out new terms of trade.
Newly appointed Treasury chief Philip Hammond, meanwhile, sought to reassure the markets and the public, saying there was no need for an emergency national budget, despite the question marks hanging over the British economy following the referendum.
Still, Hardt suggests: “Britain remaining in the European Union should also be an option for the new government – it would be better for Great Britain and the rest of the European Union”.
“Britain is open for business”, he said.
“The substantive point is that we were told by President Obama that in respect of worldwide trade, we would have to get to the back of the queue”.
On Thursday, the Bank of England will announce whether it will cut interest rates for the first time since March 2009 to curb the economic fall-out from Brexit. It also decided against a new bout of quantitative easing, under which it effectively pumps money into the economy through the purchase of government bonds from financial institutions.
But the committee hinted it would loosen policy in August, when it will have fresh forecasts about the state of the British economy.
Carney has indicated that some sort of stimulus will be offered over the summer as his pre-vote warnings about the impact on the economy had begun to crystallize.
Mrs Trevelyan, who had signed a letter asking the PM to stay on regardless of the result of the referendum, joined colleagues from all parties in applause and a standing ovation, as he left the Commons chamber this afternoon having taken his last PMQs session.
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“There has been a chilling effect”, he told the BBC.
