Theresa May is one step closer to becoming Britain’s next prime minister after her only remaining opponent, Andrea Leadsom, dropped out of the contest on Monday, July 11, 2016.
Leadsom dropped of the race against May saying that her rival had the backing of more MPs and cited possible difficulty in unity of the ruling UK Conservative Party as the reason for her exit from the race for the top position in the party.
“Theresa May carries over 60% of support from the party. She is ideally placed to implement Brexit and has promised to do so. I have concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the implementation of a strong leader,” Leadsom said in her speech.
“I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election,” Leadsom said, promising to give May her “full support.”
Leadsom’s withdrawal from the race came after she drew series of criticism from her party’s MPs. The energy minister has been accused of overstating her professional experience on her CV, and making claims that she was better placed to run the country than May because she is a mother. Apparently, this did not go down well with her party members.
Theresa May also made a speech Monday, speaking confidently that she would become the country’s next leader.
“Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it. There will be no attempts to remain inside the EU. No attempts to rejoin it by the back door. No second referendum. The country voted to leave the European Union and as prime minister, I will make sure we leave the European Union,” she said.
On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum in which voters opted to leave the European Union. Following the outcome of the poll in which the Brexit campaign won, David Cameron, the incumbent prime minister announced his resignation having failed to convince the British people to stay in the EU.
