THE British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed her resignation on Friday. She said she will quit as party leader on June 7. Obviously, her announcement will trigger a leadership contest, with several Conservative MPs. And the winner will be Britain’s next PM.
We know, she has evacuated the last ditch defending her leadership from the oncoming hordes. The only matter to be decided now is the timetable for replacing her. She may give Sir Graham Brady, Chairman of the Committee representing Conservative MPs. More likely, she will try to put it off until next week, or to the week after, when Parliament returns to Westminster. She will welcome Donald Trump on his state visit that week, and she will probably represent the UK at the G20 in Japan at the end of June.
But it seems that the Conservative Party is determined to have a new Premier in 10 Downing Street by the time Parliament rises for the summer recess in about the third week of July. Really, it’s a big question- who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader?
Seeing British politics, we assume that installing a new prime minister will not break the Brexit deadlock. Any candidate to replace Ms May would presumably declare their willingness to leave the EU without a deal. But this would be opposed by a majority of the House of Commons. The new prime minister would have to find another way. However, a general election is not an attractive option for the Conservative Party. It would be a delusion too far to imagine that it would produce a clear majority in the Commons for a no-deal exit.
We think, whoever succeeded Ms May would be driven inevitably in this direction. No doubt, it was her plan to allow the Commons to vote on a referendum which ultimately helped to kill her withdrawal agreement bill. Even so, she spoke of compromise. She made as clear as any politician who is as certain an enemy of clarity as she has been, that whoever comes next will face the same challenges she had. But if she had taken today’s stance three years ago things would be very different!
We know, she has evacuated the last ditch defending her leadership from the oncoming hordes. The only matter to be decided now is the timetable for replacing her. She may give Sir Graham Brady, Chairman of the Committee representing Conservative MPs. More likely, she will try to put it off until next week, or to the week after, when Parliament returns to Westminster. She will welcome Donald Trump on his state visit that week, and she will probably represent the UK at the G20 in Japan at the end of June.
But it seems that the Conservative Party is determined to have a new Premier in 10 Downing Street by the time Parliament rises for the summer recess in about the third week of July. Really, it’s a big question- who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader?
Seeing British politics, we assume that installing a new prime minister will not break the Brexit deadlock. Any candidate to replace Ms May would presumably declare their willingness to leave the EU without a deal. But this would be opposed by a majority of the House of Commons. The new prime minister would have to find another way. However, a general election is not an attractive option for the Conservative Party. It would be a delusion too far to imagine that it would produce a clear majority in the Commons for a no-deal exit.
We think, whoever succeeded Ms May would be driven inevitably in this direction. No doubt, it was her plan to allow the Commons to vote on a referendum which ultimately helped to kill her withdrawal agreement bill. Even so, she spoke of compromise. She made as clear as any politician who is as certain an enemy of clarity as she has been, that whoever comes next will face the same challenges she had. But if she had taken today’s stance three years ago things would be very different!
