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Who Could Replace Theresa May as Britain’s Prime Minister? Who Might Replace Theresa May as Britain’s Prime Minister?
(2 months later)
Who will be the next prime minister of Britain if Theresa May steps down? LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain has announced that she will step down as the Conservative Party leader on June 7, bringing into the open a party leadership struggle that has been underway on the sidelines for months.
A surprise offer on Wednesday by Mrs. May to step aside if her plan for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union were approved prompted political analysts to speculate about who might replace her. But deep divisions within the party and the nation over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union proved fatal to Mrs. May’s leadership, and it is not clear that a successor would fare any better.
While Mrs. May did not specify a date for her departure — it would not come until after the May 22 deadline for withdrawal, known as Brexit — her Conservative colleagues would have to appoint a new leader to see the process through. Anyone seeking the job first has to be nominated by two members of Parliament. If there is only one candidate, he or she automatically becomes the new leader. If there are more than two, lawmakers vote among themselves to narrow the field to two candidates, who then are put to a vote by the 120,000 mostly white, mostly aging Conservative Party members. The party said it expected to begin the nomination process in the week of June 10, after Mrs. May steps aside, and to complete the process by the end of July.
Candidates for party leadership have to be nominated by two other members of Parliament, though if there is only one candidate, he or she automatically becomes the new leader. If more than two candidates emerge, lawmakers vote among themselves to narrow the field and then put two candidates to a vote by all Tories. By Monday, nine candidates had declared their intentions to run to succeed the prime minister. Others had yet to make a public declaration. Here are the potential successors seen as having the best chance to become head of the Conservative Party and, eventually, prime minister.
British bookmakers are already offering odds on some of the politicians they believe to be probable contenders for the job. The group highlights the deep divisions in Mrs. May’s Conservative Party: They include hard-line Brexit supporters, vocal critics of the prime minister’s approach and supporters of Mrs. May’s strategy. Mr. Johnson, 54, the former foreign secretary and one of the most outspoken critics of Mrs. May’s Brexit plan, is one of the most polarizing figures in British politics but seen by some hard-line Brexit supporters as a good choice.
Here are some potential successors who have been given the best odds at clinching the role. He was a figurehead in the campaign to leave the European Union, and since the 2016 referendum has pushed for a hard split with the bloc. This stance regularly put him at odds with Mrs. May as she fought for a deal that would, supposedly temporarily, maintain relatively closer ties to Europe, and he regularly undermined her efforts to sell her deal to Parliament.
Mr. Gove, 51, the environment secretary who formerly served as justice secretary and education secretary, is seen by some as a front-runner for the role, including some bookmakers who have put odds strongly in his favor. On Friday, that history seemed distant immediately after Mrs. May’s announcement. In a statement posted on Twitter, he thanked Mrs. May for her “stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party” and urged lawmakers to heed her call to deliver Brexit.
He was a prominent pro-Brexit campaigner ahead of the 2016 referendum, and in the years since has largely backed the prime minister’s strategy. Some British news media outlets, including the Conservative weekly tabloid The Mail on Sunday, have speculated recently that he would be the likely “consensus choice” to replace Mrs. May as a caretaker leader if she were ousted. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was quick to call him out as hypocritical.
But amid the speculation, Mr. Gove reiterated his support for Mrs. May this week, urging others in his party to support her deal. Mr. Johnson first gained notoriety for his bombastic displays as mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, before returning to Parliament. He was one of the most prominent voices of the Leave campaign that urged Britain to vote for the country’s exit from the European Union, and since the 2016 referendum has advocated a hard split.
“I think it’s not the time to change the captain of the ship,” he told reporters. “I think what we need to do is to chart the right course, and the prime minister has charted that right course by making sure that we have a deal which honors the referendum mandate.” Mr. Johnson served as foreign secretary in Mrs. May’s cabinet, but resigned in 2018 in protest over her withdrawal strategy.
Mr. Gove has proved to be an unlikely ally of Mrs. May’s ever since losing to her in his bid to succeed David Cameron on the heels of the referendum in 2016. Like Mr. Johnson, Mr. Raab has long advocated a sharp severing of ties with Europe. At 45, he is seen by some in the party as a youthful face who could redefine the leadership role, and he announced his intention to run on Sunday.
At that time, he offered himself up as a reluctant candidate for leadership, saying he knew his “limitations.” He served for a short time as Brexit secretary, becoming Mrs. May’s lead negotiator in the withdrawal process. But he resigned unexpectedly in 2018. At the time, he said he was unable to “reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made,” exposing a deep rift within Mrs. May’s cabinet.
Ms. Leadsom, 56, has put herself forward for the party leadership before — in May 2016, she went up against Mrs. May after Prime Minister David Cameron stepped down in 2016, after the referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union.
She unexpectedly dropped out before the issue was put to a vote, after her chances were damaged by comments she made in an interview with The Times of London in which she suggested that she was a better candidate for the premiership because she is a mother, unlike Mrs. May.
This week, she resigned as the leader of the House of Commons, seemingly taking steps to distance herself from the failing leadership. She has been a vocal supporter of a clean break with the European Union.
Mr. Gove, 51, the environment secretary, formerly served as justice secretary and education secretary, and is seen by some as a front-runner for the leadership role.
Before the 2016 referendum, he campaigned for Britain’s exit, and he has largely backed the prime minister’s strategy during her time in office. He was vocal in his support for Mrs. May, and urged others within his party to support her deal in several iterations.
Mr. Gove proved an unlikely ally after he lost to Mrs. May in his bid to succeed Mr. Cameron. When Mr. Gove offered himself up as a reluctant candidate in that leadership race, he very clearly acknowledged what he called his “limitations.”
“Whatever charisma is, I don’t have it,” Mr. Gove said at the time. “Whatever glamour may be, I don’t think anyone could ever associate me with it.”“Whatever charisma is, I don’t have it,” Mr. Gove said at the time. “Whatever glamour may be, I don’t think anyone could ever associate me with it.”
Mr. Johnson, 54, the former foreign secretary and a vocal critic of the prime minister’s Brexit plans, said on Wednesday that he would now back Mrs. May’s plan, which Parliament rejected twice but could be put to a third vote on Friday. Mr. Hunt, 52, replaced Mr. Johnson as foreign secretary, having served as health secretary for the previous six years.
He gained notoriety as the outspoken and often-outrageous mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, before returning to Parliament. He was a figurehead in the campaign to leave the European Union, and since the 2016 referendum has advocated a hard split with the bloc. This mind-set has put him at odds with Mrs. May, who has fought for relatively closer ties to Europe — and who has seen Mr. Johnson regularly undermine her efforts to negotiate a deal. Like Mrs. May, Mr. Hunt voted for Britain to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum. But in the years since, Mr. Hunt has become a supporter of the decision to leave, citing the “arrogant” and “disappointing” tactics of the bloc’s negotiating team.
He has long been a polarizing figure within the party, which could hurt his chances in a bid for its leadership. He was a vocal supporter of Mrs. May’s initial withdrawal deal, though on Thursday he withdrew his support for her “last chance deal” introduced this week. On Friday, he paid tribute to her service, calling her a “true public servant” in a tweet.
Mr. Johnson resigned as the foreign secretary in Mrs. May’s cabinet in 2018 in protest over her withdrawal strategy. That could help position him as a candidate of hard-line Brexit supporters, though there are other contenders for that mantle, including Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary. Mr. Javid, 49, the home secretary, once supported remaining in the European Union but has since thrown his support behind the efforts to leave. On Monday, he announced his intention to run for the head of the party.
But on Wednesday night, after Mrs. May said she planned to step down if the deal were approved, he told The Telegraph: “I feel very, very sorry and though it fills me with pain, I’m going to have to support this thing.” The son of immigrants from Pakistan, Mr. Javid was a successful banker before turning to politics.
Mr. Hunt, 52, who replaced Mr. Johnson as foreign secretary, had served as the country’s health secretary for the previous six years. He voted for Britain to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum. Mr. Javid has been positioning himself for a potential leadership role since early this year, making waves with the decision to strip the citizenship of Shamima Begum, the British teenager who traveled to Syria in 2015 to join the Islamic State. But some, including fellow Tory lawmakers, criticized him for the move, calling it opportunistic.
But in the years since, Mr. Hunt has become an outspoken supporter of the decision to leave. His view was hardened, he said, in part by the bloc’s negotiation tactics, which he called “arrogant” and “disappointing.” Mr. Lidington, 62, supported the campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union, and as Mrs. May’s de facto deputy is seen by some as her natural successor. When speculation arose last year about a possible coup within her cabinet, some tabloids pointed to Mr. Lidington as the most likely next in line.
Like Mr. Gove and others in the cabinet, he has been a vocal supporter of Mrs. May’s withdrawal deal. But others believe his prospects are slim. He has long expressed admiration for Mrs. May and worked to rally support for her unpopular Brexit deal, but has said his position has given him a unique view of the difficult nature of the premiership.
Mr. Javid, 49, Britain’s home secretary, had been a successful banker before turning to politics. He is the son of parents who emigrated to Britain from Pakistan.
Like Mr. Hunt, he also once supported Britain remaining in the European Union, but he has since come to support the efforts to leave.
Mr. Javid has been positioning himself for a potential leadership role in recent months, making waves with the decision to strip the British citizenship of Shamima Begum, the teenager who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State. But some, including fellow Tory lawmakers, criticized him for the move, calling it opportunistic.
Mr. Lidington, 62, who was a supporter of the campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union, is the prime minister’s de facto deputy and has been described by many as her natural caretaker successor. When speculation began about a possible coup within her cabinet, some British tabloids pointed to Mr. Lidington as the presumed caretaker prime minister.
But Mr. Lidington, when asked last weekend about the supposed plot, expressed admiration for Mrs. May and said he was working to rally support for her deal. His prospects of becoming a permanent successor are slim, however, because though widely respected, he is seen as a technocrat.
“One thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task,” he told The Guardian.“One thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task,” he told The Guardian.
Mr. Hancock, 40, the health secretary, supported remaining in the European Union, and he has since been a staunch opponent of a no-deal exit from the bloc.
He vowed when he entered the race on Saturday to deliver Brexit should he become the next prime minister, but added that his focus would be not just on Brexit, but also on free enterprise and a free society.
A graduate of Oxford, Mr. Hancock worked as an economist at the Bank of England and as chief of staff to the lawmaker who speaks for the opposition on economic and financial matters. He became a member of Parliament himself in 2010.
Damian Green, a former secretary of state, said in The Sunday Times that only Mr. Hancock had the common sense to heal Britain’s wounds.
Ms. McVey, 51, the former secretary of state for work and pensions, voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, and she has recently come out in support of a no-deal Brexit.
“The Withdrawal Agreement ship has sailed and needs to be put out of its misery,” she said in a Twitter post on Sunday. “I will take the bold and positive new approach the country needs: leave the EU on October 31 with a clean break so we can all move on & rebuild a UK that works for everyone.”
She also said that she would increase school and police funding, while reducing foreign spending. “I’m standing on a blue-collar Conservative platform,” she said.
Ms. McVey has previously come under fire for a controversial speech on the rise of food banks, and for voting against same-sex marriage.
Mr. Stewart, the secretary of state for international development, has been gaining ground as a measured, moderate Conservative candidate, especially after a certain declaration on Saturday.
“I’m afraid I would not be able to serve in a Boris Johnson cabinet,” he told Sky News, on the basis that Mr. Johnson “will try to crash” Britain out of the European Union.
He followed this up with a Twitter post that many saw as a jibe against Mr. Johnson, the front-runner in the race to succeed Mrs. May.
Mr. Stewart, 46, was a Labour supporter in his teens, and served as a diplomat in the Middle East before entering Parliament in 2010. He was one of the more vocal supporters of Mrs. May’s compromise Brexit deal.
“I just think although people pretend they want a Brexit deal, it turns out that far too many Remainers simply do not want to accept the result of the referendum and far too many Brexiteers have convinced themselves that no deal is the sensible, practicable thing to do and I don’t think it is,” he told The Spectator last month.