Serving as party chairwoman in 2002, she warned that the Conservatives had become known as “the nasty party” and needed to change their ways and broaden their appeal.
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(EurActiv) – Theresa May was Monday set to become the next British prime minister within the next 48 hours, as her only rival dropped out of the race.
Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay in the bloc, announced he would quit after the June 23 referendum delivered a vote for Brexit.
“We need a full fleet of four submarines, capable between them of providing what the military call “Continuous At Sea Deterrence”, or permanent, around-the-clock cover”.
May supported the Remain camp, but has since stated that “Brexit means Brexit”.
Central to the race will be a decision by Labour’s governing National Executive Committee (NEC) about whether Corbyn automatically gets his name on to the ballot or needs to secure 51 lawmakers’ nominations, which he could struggle to do.
Mrs Leadsom is also under pressure to publish her tax return, a step her rival Theresa May has already taken. Following the second round of voting, a survey by Conservative Home found that Leadsom was more popular than May among the membership.
She worked at the Bank of England and later as a financial consultant and global affairs adviser at the Association for Payment Clearing Services before entering politics. But Johnson was forced into a humiliating pullout, after Gove announced his own candidacy while taking numerous former mayor’s backers with him. May would be an “excellent leader and Prime Minister”.
Leadsom told Monday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper that she believed that having children has “no bearing on the ability to be PM”.
A delay in the appointment of his successor as Conservative leader would have given him more time to make high-profile official appearances, to shape his legacy and influence the nature of Britain’s break with the EU.
Mr Cameron will then head to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen in his final act as Prime Minister – after a tearful exit from No 10 with his family, no doubt – before Mrs May makes the same journey and triumphantly arrives in Downing Street. Questioning her claimed past of managing “enormous teams” in the financial services sector, the article stated, “Andrea Leadsom has no experience as an investment banker despite claims from her backers that she managed billions of pounds’ worth of funds”.
The 59-year-old will be Britain’s second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, who was in office from 1979 to 1990.
The Times, which backs May, stood by its story and released a recording of Leadsom making the comments, which was played on Saturday news bulletins on all the main radio and TV stations. That was coupled with the contretemps over her remarks suggesting that motherhood made her the stronger candidate, in contrast with May, who is childless.
She will also want to appoint a tough operator to succeed her as Home Secretary, with Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and her leadership campaign chief Chris Grayling the leading candidates.
“From my knowledge of Theresa I know that she is the right person at the right time”. She will have to balance access to the EU’s single market, which the economy has come to rely on, with immigration controls that the “leave” campaign promised.
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He described her as a politician who “wasn’t to be pushed aside or pushed about”.
