Michael Gove, the justice secretary, was expected to support Johnson. The final vote is set for September 9.
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May hailed the result, saying it showed the Conservative Party could unite under her leadership after the divisive European Union referendum vote.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament he said: “I believe Andrea now, going to the country, has all that fantastic combination of steel, real grit, real determination, real world experience – working 25 years out of this place (Parliament), setting up charities – and in government she has that experience”.
The victor will become the first woman to lead Britain since Margaret Thatcher, who governed from 1979 to 1990, transforming the country with her staunchly free-market policies.
In a vote of Conservative MPs on Thursday, May received 199 nods.
Two other contenders, veteran right-winger Liam Fox and newcomer Stephen Crabb, dropped out of the race on July 5 after receiving the lowest support in the first round of voting. He’s instead endorsed Leadsom for the post of prime minister.
We don’t yet know who the next Prime Minister of Britain will be, but we now know it will be a woman. Leadsom got 84 votes, Reuters reports.
He added: “Today we have two strong women candidates going to the country, we will have a woman prime minister”.
Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom emerged as the favorites in a ballot of lawmakers that was triggered by David Cameron’s resignation over last month’s Brexit vote. Her policy moves as home secretary have included reducing the minimum wage of non-EU workers wanting to work in the UK.
May campaigned for the “remain” vote in the referendum, whereas Leadsom backed a British exit, or “Brexit”, from EU. “I say to all who are legally here that you will be welcome to stay”.
Leadsom was endorsed Thursday by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who tweeted: “Important that the next Prime Minister is a Brexiteer she has my backing”. Leadsom, 53, is a junior energy minister who has never served in cabinet.
She has held a variety of different roles within the party including Shadow Secretary of State for the Family from 2004 to 2005; and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women and Equalities from 2010 to 2012.
A veteran politician, May has vowed to negotiate the UK’s departure from the European Union despite her support for the Remain campaign.
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The 52-year-old has praised the MP for her “positive, confident and optimistic” approach to resolving the issues within the increasingly divided party.
