NEW BRITISH LEADER:
Cameron says he will step down Wednesday to make way for May
A political era ended Monday, unexpectedly and without an election, as Prime Minister David Cameron said he will step down on Wednesday in favor of Theresa May, a senior member of his Cabinet who will become Britain’s second female leader.
LONDON — A political era ended Monday — unexpectedly and without an election — as Prime Minister David Cameron said he will step down Wednesday in favor of Theresa May, a senior member of his Cabinet who will become Britain’s second female leader.
Cameron announced his resignation last month because he backed the losing side in the referendum on whether Britain would leave the European Union. So did May — but infighting, bad timing and cold feet among leaders of the victorious “leave” campaign mean that she will have the task of leading a divided country out of the EU.
The latest chapter in the political turmoil spawned by the EU vote moved with breathtaking speed.
On Monday morning, there were two candidates to lead the governing Conservative Party. At noon, Andrea Leadsom stepped down, making May leader-in-waiting. By late afternoon, Cameron had announced that May would be moving into 10 Downing Street within 48 hours.
“Wewill have a newprime minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening,” Cameron said in a brief statement outside the leader’s official London resi- dence.
Cameron, who has governed since May 2010, said he would offer his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday after attending a final session of Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons. The monarch will then invite May — as leader of a party with a majority in Parliament — to lead a new government.
Speaking outside Parliament surrounded by Conservative colleagues, May said she was “honored and humbled” to have been chosen as the party’s new leader. May campaigned tepidly to remain in the EU but sought to reassure those who voted “leave” that she would respect their decision. She said there would be no attempt to avoid a British exit from the bloc.
“Brexit means Brexit, and we’re going to makeasuccess of it,” she said, promising to deliver “a strong, new positive vision for the future of our country.”
May’s sudden victory came when Leadsom, the energy minister, stepped down from the Conservative leadership race after a weekend furor over comments in which she appeared to say being a mother gave her an advantage over May, whohas no children.
Only a week after she announced she was running, Leadsom said she had con- cluded she lacked “sufficient support” among legislators to be leader. She said “the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported prime minister.”
Cameron’s resignation announcementthedayafter the June 23 referendum triggered the Tory leadership race.
The most prominent contenders to replace him — including “leave” campaign leaders Boris Johnson and Michael Gove— withdrewor were eliminated from contention one by one amid allegations of treachery and scheming.
Conservative lawmakers narrowed the field from five contenders to just Leadsom and May. Some150,000 party members were due to choose between them in the coming weeks, with the result to be announced in September.
But with Leadsom’s withdrawal, the party announced that May would be the new leader “with immediate effect.”
May, 59, is one of the most experienced ministers in Cameron’s Cabinet, serving for six years in the notoriously difficult job of home secretary, akin to the interior minister’s post in other countries.
She has a reputation for solid, unflashy competence and for prevailing over her rivals.
May will become the country’s 76th prime minister but only the second wom- an to hold the job following Margaret Thatcher, who stepped downover a quartercentury ago.
Although May has been occasionally likened to Thatcher, she has lately been compared to a more contemporary leader: German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Both May and Merkel were born in the 1950s, the daughters of church pastors. They both inhabit the centerright of European politics but are also known for a strong pragmatic streak. Both are also considered tough negotiators — skills they’ll be putting to use against one another as May seeks a divorce deal with her soon-tobe-former EUcounterparts.
The key question now is when she triggers the start of those talks. She had earlier said she did not want to invoke Article 50 — the never-before-used mechanism for exiting the EU — until at least 2017.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives aren’t the only ones thrown into turmoil by the referendum, which has also sparked a leadership struggle in the main opposition Labour Party.
Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle has launched an attempt to unseat party leader Jeremy Corbyn, a staunchly uncharismatic socialist who has a strong base of support among Labour members but little backing from the party’s 229 lawmakers.