“Brexit means Brexit, and we’re going to make a success of it”, she said. The race to succeed Cameron was supposed to last through the summer culminating in the Conservative Party conference in September, but Leadsom’s withdrawal from the race has all but concluded the process. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said there had been a “touch of sadness” to the meeting, which saw May and Treasury chief George Osborne lead tributes to Cameron. She will face the enormous task of disentangling Britain from a forest of European Union laws, accumulated over more than four decades, and negotiating new trade terms while limiting potential damage to the economy.
Advertisement
But today, Mr Cameron said today apart from one meeting with Her Majesty “the diary for the rest of my day is remarkably light”.
As someone who wanted the United Kingdom to stay in the European Union, there will be pressure to give prominent cabinet roles to those who backed Brexit. The next prime minister, Theresa May, is seeking to calm the country, and financial markets, after upheaval following the unexpected result.
Opposition parties are already calling for an early election – however, when she launched her campaign for the Tory leadership on 30 June, Mrs May had said: “There should be no general election until 2020”.
The party’s governing National Executive Committee met for several hours Tuesday to decide whether Corbyn should automatically be on the ballot in a leadership contest, or whether he needed to gather nominations from 51 lawmakers – something he would struggle to do.
Back when Brexit hit, David Cameron said he’d be resigning as Britain’s prime minister.
Mrs May has rejected such demands.
David Cameron’s final full day as Prime Minister began with a removal van arriving in Downing Street, a “poignant” last ever Cabinet meeting – and confirmation that Larry the No.10 cat was staying put.
“She’s got a real problem of bringing the warring wings of the party together”. I hope she picks a strong negotiating team. He failed to win an outright majority in Parliament, so formed a coalition with the smaller Liberal Democrats.
Ms May has been a tough-talking interior minister for the past six years and is something of an unknown quantity internationally, although she has received ringing endorsements from party colleagues and a normally sceptical British tabloid press.
Investors will be watching Ms May’s first days in office closely but with greater optimism as the value of the pound, which fell by up to 15 per cent against the dollar and the euro in the days of the Brexit vote, has rebounded on news of her impending promotion.
May has faced questions about when she will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty that would set a two-year limit for completing negotiations to leave the European Union.
What steps she will take as Prime Minister can only be speculated, but there is no doubt she has a track record of being firm in her former role.
Mrs May said he had based her leadership bid on the need for “strong, proven leadership”, the ability to unite both party and country and a “positive vision” for Britain’s future.
Advertisement
She has said she would honor the referendum but hasn’t spelled out details of how quickly she would move to separate Britain from the EU.
