The UK is set to get its new Prime Minister sooner than expected, with Home Secretary Theresa May left as the only candidate after rival Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the two-woman race.
Following the resignation of PM David Cameron in the wake of the Brexit referendum, a ballot of roughly 150,000 Conservative Party members to choose a replacement was to be held at the end of a lengthy 9-week campaign.
Leadsom says she didn’t think a drawn out contest was what the country needed:
“There is no greater privilege than to lead the Conservative Party in government and I would have been deeply honoured to do it.“I have however concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported prime minister. I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish Theresa May the very greatest success.”
Leadsom had no cabinet experience and wasn’t all that famous with the Brits until she became a prominent voice in the ‘Leave’ movement.
May has been Home Secretary for 6 years and favoured the ‘Remain’ side, but has stated her commitment to honouring the first referendum and has ruled out a second one:
“As prime minister, I will make sure that we leave the European Union. The British people were given their opportunity to vote on this.“They’ve given us a very clear message, and I think we respond to that message and we do what the British people have asked us to.”
Expected to be made Prime Minister within days, May will be the first female British PM since Margaret Thatcher.
Source: SMH.
Photo: Getty Images / Jeff J Mitchell.
