LONDON – British Prime Minister Theresa May steps down as leader of herConservative Party on Friday, formally triggering the race for a successorwho will try where she failed to deliver Brexit.
May will remain prime minister until a new leader is chosen, likely in lateJuly, but has relinquished control over the direction of Britain’s tortuousdeparture from the European Union.
Brexit is still scheduled for October 31 but while her rivals thrash itout, the project remains stuck, with the only divorce plan agreed withBrussels stuck in parliament.
May took office after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU and hasspent the past three years working on the plan, delaying Brexit twice totry to get it through.
But she finally acknowledged defeat in a tearful resignation speech lastmonth, the culmination of months of political turmoil that has slowlysapped all her authority.
Eleven Conservative MPs are currently vying to replace her, includingformer foreign minister Boris Johnson, but some are expected to drop outbefore Monday’s deadline for nominations.
The winner will have only a few months to decide whether to try to salvageMay’s plan, delay Brexit again — or sever ties with Britain’s closesttrading partner with no agreement at all.
They are under pressure from eurosceptic figurehead Nigel Farage, who hascalled for a “no deal” option and whose Brexit party topped European pollslast month.
His party suffered a setback on Friday after narrowly missing out onwinning its first parliamentary seat, losing to Labour in a by-election inthe eastern city of Peterborough.
Despite winning, Labour’s vote share fell by 17 percent while the Toriesplummeted by 25 percent, highlighting the task facing May’s successor.
Polling guru John Curtice told the BBC that the result showed Britain wasnow in a “different political world”.
“A lot of constituencies are now looking at four-party politics, andperhaps in others five-party politics,” said a disappointed Farage. – Power shift –
May will formally relinquish her leadership in a private letter to herparty on Friday, but no official events are planned to mark the day.
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She put on a brave face this week when hosting US President Donald Trumpfor a state visit, before joining him and other world leaders to mark 75years since the D-Day landings.
But Trump used the trip to speak with Johnson and other candidates toreplace her, emphasising where the political power in Britain now lies.
“She remains prime minister for a good few weeks yet,” May’s spokesmaninsisted, noting that any successor must meet Queen Elizabeth II and assurethe monarch they have the support of enough lawmakers to take over.
He said May would focus on domestic issues, but “in relation to Brexit, theprime minister said it wouldn’t be for her to take this process forward”.
Trump has been highly critical of May’s Brexit strategy and ahead of hisvisit to Britain, urged her successor to leave the bloc with no deal ifnecessary.
Johnson, a leading campaigner in the 2016 referendum who quit thegovernment last year over May’s plan, is among several would-be candidateswho say they are willing to do this.
But Environment Secretary Michael Gove, another frontrunner, is open toanother Brexit delay, while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said leavingwith no deal is “political suicide”.
Trump had a phone call with Johnson this week and met both Hunt and Farage,although a planned meeting with Gove never materialised.
Nominations for the contest must be submitted on Monday, and the 313Conservative MPs — including May — will hold the first of a series ofsecret ballots on June 13.
With the worst performers eliminated each time, the goal is to have twocandidates left by June 20. They will then be put to a ballot of anestimated 100,000 party members.
The contest should be completed by the week commencing July 22. -APP/AFP
