LONDON, June 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – British Prime Minister Theresa May steps
down as leader of her Conservative Party on Friday, formally triggering the
race for a successor who will try where she failed to deliver Brexit.
May will remain prime minister until a new leader is chosen, likely in late
July, but has relinquished control over the direction of Britain’s tortuous
departure from the European Union.
Brexit is still scheduled for October 31 but while her rivals thrash it
out, the project remains stuck, with the only divorce plan agreed with
Brussels stuck in parliament.
May took office after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU and has
spent the past three years working on the plan, delaying Brexit twice to try
to get it through.
But she finally acknowledged defeat in a tearful resignation speech last
month, the culmination of months of political turmoil that has slowly sapped
all her authority.
Eleven Conservative MPs are currently vying to replace her, including
former foreign minister Boris Johnson, but some are expected to drop out
before Monday’s deadline for nominations.
The winner will have only a few months to decide whether to try to salvage
May’s plan, delay Brexit again — or sever ties with Britain’s closest
trading partner with no agreement at all.
They are under pressure from eurosceptic figurehead Nigel Farage, who has
called for a “no deal” option and whose Brexit party topped European polls
last month.
His party made a strong showing in by-election for the British parliament
in the eastern city of Peterborough on Thursday, but failed in its goal of
winning its first MP.
However, the pro-European Liberal Democrats, who want to reverse Brexit,
also performed well in the European polls, highlighting how divided Britain
remains over its future.
– Power shift –
May will formally relinquish her leadership in a private letter to her
party on Friday, but no official events are planned to mark the day.
She put on a brave face this week when hosting US President Donald Trump
for a state visit, before joining him and other world leaders to mark 75
years since the D-day landings.
But Trump used the trip to speak with Johnson and other candidates to
replace her, emphasising where the political power in Britain now lies.
“She remains prime minister for a good few weeks yet,” May’s spokesman
insisted, noting that any successor must meet Queen Elizabeth II and assure
the monarch they have the support of enough lawmakers to take over.
He said May would focus on domestic issues, but “in relation to Brexit, the
prime 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 his
visit to Britain, urged her successor to leave the bloc with no deal if
necessary.
Johnson, a leading campaigner in the 2016 referendum who quit the
government last year over May’s plan, is among several would-be candidates
who say they are willing to do this.
But Environment Secretary Michael Gove, another frontrunner, is open to
other Brexit delay, while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said leaving with
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 313
Conservative MPs — including May — will hold the first of a series of
secret ballots on June 13.
With the worst performers eliminated each time, the goal is to have two
candidates left by June 20. They will then be put to a ballot of an estimated
100,000 party members.
The contest should be completed by the week commencing July 22.