LONDON: PrimeMinister Theresa May stepped down as leader of Britain's governing ConservativeParty on Friday, formally triggering the race for a successor who will trywhere she failed to deliver Brexit. May, who quietly tendered her resignationin a private letter to the party, will remain prime minister until a new leaderis chosen, likely in late July, but leaves Britain's tortuous departure fromthe European Union stalled.
Brexit is stillscheduled for October 31 but while 11 contenders thrash it out over theleadership, the project remains stuck, with the only divorce plan agreed withBrussels having been repeatedly rejected by parliament. "Followingnotification from the Prime Minister Theresa May MP that she has resigned asleader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, (we) are inviting nominationsfrom those Conservative members of parliament who wish to stand for election asthe next party leader," the committee in charge of the contest said.
"(She) willremain as acting leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party until hersuccessor has been announced." May took office after the shock 2016referendum vote to leave the EU and has spent the past three years working on adeparture plan, delaying Brexit twice to try to get the deal through. But shefinally acknowledged defeat in a tearful resignation speech last month, theculmination of months of political turmoil that had slowly sapped herauthority.
ElevenConservative MPs have declared their intention to stand to replace her,including former foreign minister Boris Johnson, but some are expected to dropout before the tomorrow 5:00pm (1600 GMT) deadline for nominations. The winnerwill 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 withno agreement at all.
Brexit Partypressure
The government isunder pressure from eurosceptic figurehead Nigel Farage, who has called for a"no deal" option and whose newly-formed Brexit Party comfortablytopped the European Parliament elections last month. His single-issue partysuffered a setback after narrowly missing out on winning its firstparliamentary seat, losing to Labor in a by-election in the eastern city ofPeterborough on Thursday.
But despitewinning, Labor's vote share fell by 17 percent while the Conservatives' voteplummeted by 25 percent, highlighting the task facing May's successor. Pollingguru John Curtice told the BBC that the result showed Britain was now in a"different political world".
Leadershipcontest frontrunner Johnson warned that the centre-right Conservatives"must deliver Brexit by October 31 or we risk Brexit Party votesdelivering Corbyn to No 10", referring to leftist Labor leader JeremyCorbyn getting into Downing Street. Meanwhile leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, theforeign minister, warned that there was "no future for our party"until Britain leaves the EU. May formally relinquished her leadership in the privateletter to her party on Friday.
She spent the dayin her constituency west of London. No official event took place and there wasno statement from her 10 Downing Street office. She put on a brave face thisweek when hosting US President Donald Trump for a state visit, before joininghim and other world leaders to mark 75 years since the D-Day landings."She remains prime minister for a good few weeks yet," May'sspokesman insisted, noting that any successor must meet Queen Elizabeth II andassure the head of state that they have the support of enough lawmakers to takeover.
Johnson courtvictory
Johnson, aleading campaigner in the 2016 referendum who quit the government last yearover May's plan, is among several would-be candidates who say they are willingto leave the EU without a deal if necessary. Environment Secretary MichaelGove, another frontrunner, is open to another Brexit delay, while Hunt has saidleaving with no deal is "political suicide". Johnson cleared onehurdle on Friday after the High Court quashed a legal action brought by acitizen who accuses him of misconduct in public office for making misleadingstatements during the 2016 campaign about how much money Britain sends to theEU.
Nominations forthe Conservative leadership contest open and close on Monday, and the 313Conservative MPs - including May - will hold the first of a series of secretballots on Thursday. With the worst performers eliminated each time, the goalis to have two candidates left by June 20. They will then be put to a ballot ofan estimated 100,000 party members. The contest should be completed in the weekcommencing July 22.-AFP