Dubai: Home Secretary Theresa May is on course to succeed David Cameron as British prime minister after her only opponent in the Tory leadership race, Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, dropped out.
May, 59, will become the country’s second woman prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher.
There are no formal rules for the succession of British prime ministers, but Cameron will have to visit Queen Elizabeth II to resign, after which the monarch will invite May, as the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Commons, to form a government.
When Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair in 2007, Brown became Labour leader on a Sunday, and Blair resigned as prime minister the following Wednesday.
Leadsom, who has only been in Parliament since 2010 and isn’t in the cabinet, quit just after midday, saying that her support among Tory lawmakers was not sufficient to lead a “strong and stable” government. May had only an hour earlier pitched herself at the centre ground of British politics, promising crackdowns of high corporate pay and tax avoidance. Although she opposed leaving the European Union, she committed to respecting the referendum result.
“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 EU and forge a new role for ourselves in the world,” May said in her speech. “Brexit means Brexit, and we’re going to make a success of it.”
May had opposed the idea of an early general election, but she may find herself under pressure to call one, given the dramatic shifts in British politics since the 2015 election.
Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee in charge of the leadership contest, told reporters May still needs formal confirmation to be named party leader. He also ruled out running a new election among Tory lawmakers.
A planned vote of the party’s 150,000 members will no longer take place.
News of Leadsom’s statement came moments after May launched her national campaign with a speech in Birmingham in which she presented herself as the candidate of unity and experience, with the backing of an “overwhelming” majority of Tory MPs at Westminster.
The Home Secretary took top slot in the MPs’ ballot last week with 199 votes to her rival’s 84.
And Leadsom’s campaign got off to a disastrous start after she was forced to apologise to May for a newspaper interview in which she appeared to suggest that being a mother gave her an edge over the childless Home Secretary as a future prime minister.
The energy minister — who entered Parliament in 2010 and has never held a Cabinet post — admitted that she had been “shattered” by the experience of intensive media scrutiny, which also involved questions about apparent inaccuracies on her CV and demands for her to publish her tax returns.
May left the venue of her campaign launch speech in Birmingham before reporters there were able to ask her about Leadsom’s statement.
