{The UK will have a new leader by Wednesday evening, David Cameron says, backing his successor Theresa May.}
Theresa May will on Wednesday become the politician tasked with leading Britain into talks to leave the EU after her only rival in the race to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron pulled out unexpectedly.
May was left as the only contender standing after the withdrawal from the Conservative Party leadership race of Andrea Leadsom, who faced criticism for suggesting she was more qualified to be prime minister because she had children.
“I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen by the Conservative Party to become its leader,” said May in London after she was formally confirmed as the winner of the Conservative leadership contest on Monday afternoon.
“During this campaign, my case has been based on three things. First, the need for strong, proven leadership to steer us through what will be difficult and uncertain economic and political times; the need to negotiate the best deal for Britain in leaving the EU; and to forge a new role for ourselves in the world.”
Cameron said he would resign as prime minister on Wednesday, paving the way for May to take over the job the same day.
He said he expected to chair his last cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and then take questions in parliament for around 30 minutes from 11:00 GMT on Wednesday.
“After that I expect to go to [Buckingham Palace] and offer my resignation,” he told reporters outside his office in Downing Street. “So we will have a new prime minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening.”
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from London, said May was the choice of many in the ruling party.
“Of the five people that contested the Conservative Party leadership, many people regarded Theresa May as perhaps the more establishment figure. She has been the home secretary, the interior minister, for the past six years and because of that she has had intimate knowledge of the workings of the government and has had to liaise very closely with her European counterparts on matters of security and immigration,” Brennan said.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from London, said May was the choice of many in the ruling party.
“Of the five people that contested the Conservative Party leadership, many people regarded Theresa May as perhaps the more establishment figure. She has been the home secretary, the interior minister, for the past six years and because of that she has had intimate knowledge of the workings of the government and has had to liaise very closely with her European counterparts on matters of security and immigration,” Brennan said.
“I am now putting the whole of the party on a general election footing.”
May, a 59-year-old clergyman’s daughter, will be Britain’s second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, who was in office from 1979 to 1990.
She has portrayed herself as the leader who can unite the country following a bitterly divisive campaign, and a tough negotiator who can stand up to Brussels in what promise to be tortuous talks over Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Leadsom’s withdrawal means all the top Brexit campaigners – Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Leadsom and outgoing UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage – have now stepped back from leadership roles.
“Brexiteers threw rocks through the window, now they’re all running away from the house,” author Salman Rushdie said on Twitter.
‘Howl of pain’
On the latest in a string of astonishing days at Westminster recently, Eagle also launched her bid to take over the leadership of the main opposition Labour Party from veteran socialist Corbyn.
Corbyn has widespread support among party members but has lost the confidence of at least three-quarters of his MPs, many of whom accuse him of lacklustre campaigning to stay in the EU.
Eagle, who is from Labour’s “soft” left and was the first female MP to enter a civil partnership with her female partner in 2008, said Britain faced “dangerous times”.
Of the referendum, she added: “This vote was a message for millions in our country who felt that no one had listened to them for a very long time.
“For many of them, it was a howl of pain.”
By contrast with the Conservative outcome, there is still major uncertainty about how the Labour leadership contest will work out.
Central to the race will be a decision by Labour’s governing National Executive Committee (NEC) about whether Corbyn automatically gets on to the ballot or needs to secure 51 lawmakers’ nominations, which he could struggle to do.
The NEC is due to meet on Tuesday.
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