THERESA MAY WILL BECOME PRIME MINISTER ON WEDNESDAY EVENING
Monday 11th July 2016
By Adam Payne
Theresa May will become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom on Wednesday evening.
Current Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Monday afternoon that he intends to resign by Wednesday evening, paving the way for the Home Secretary to take over much earlier than initially expected.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Cameron said he was "delighted" May was going to be his successor and lauded her as a "strong" politician.
Conservative party official Graham Brady confirmed earlier in the day that he was set to formally appoint May as the party's new leader after her only challenger, Andrea Leadsom, pulled out at about noon in the UK.
Unlike Leadsom, May campaigned for Britain to remain in the European Union up until the June 23 referendum. However, she has pledged to deliver a successful Brexit and work closely with Conservative MPs from both sides of the debate to make it happen.
Brady initially refused to give a timeline for when May could take over from the outgoing David Cameron. However, the prime minister said that he will chair his final cabinet meeting on Tuesday and take part in one more session of Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, before passing the baton on to May.
When Leadsom first announced her decision to exit the race, there was debate on social media about whether the Tories' backbench 1922 Committee, which controls party elections, would be obliged to put forward a new candidate to stand against May. However, the path is now clear for May to become just the second female prime minister in the country's history after Margaret Thatcher.
Before Leadsom's announcement, May gave a speech in Birmingham outlining her vision for the country. She pledged to tackle inequality and make the UK a country that works for "everyone" — not just the privileged few. She said:
"If you're from a working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise."
" You have a job, but you don't always have job security. You have your own home, but you worry about mortgage rates going up. You can just about manage, but you worry about the cost of living and the quality of the local school, because there's no other choice for you."
She also vowed to eradicate "irresponsible behaviour" from big businesses by putting workers on the boards of major firms and giving shareholders more influence over how much corporate executives are paid.
Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, who were both dubbed as potential successors to Cameron, have each declared support for May. "We should now move as quickly as possible to ensure Theresa May can take over," Gove said. "She has my full support as our next prime minister."
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.