Britain: Theresa May Likely To Be U.K.'s Second Female Prime Minister After Only Rival Quits Race

U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May looks set to become Britain’s second female prime minister after Andrea Leadsom, the energy minister and rival for the Conservative leadership, dropped out of the race to succeed David Cameron.

Speaking outside her home on Monday, Leadsom said: “The referendum result demonstrated a clear desire for change. Strong leadership is needed urgently to begin the work of withdrawing from the European Union.”

She said that the nine-week leadership campaign ahead was not in the best interests of the country, and that “we now need a new prime minister in place as soon as possible.”

And Leadsom added that her support among Conservative MPs was not high enough “to lead a strong and stable government should I win the leadership election.”

Leadsom had secured the support of 84 MPs in a secret ballot, which put her in second place behind May, who had the backing of 199. The pair had been set to battle it out for the top job in a nine-week campaign before a vote among the party membership.

Whether May now automatically takes the leadership, and thus takes over from Cameron as prime minister, is expected to be formally confirmed this afternoon. Britain's only female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was in office from 1979 until 1990.

Graham Brady, the chairman of the party’s 1922 committee that runs the leadership election, told reporters on Monday that May was the “only remaining candidate” but that he needed agreement from the party’s board before he would be able to “formally confirm” if she had won as a result of Leadsom’s decision.

Leadsom was the only remaining candidate who had backed a “Brexit” vote in Britain’s EU referendum, and many on the Euroskeptic right of the Conservative party and in the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) had hoped she would win, amid delays on the formal implementation of the U.K.’s departure from the EU.

Read more: Theresa May Likely To Be U.K.'s Second Female Prime Minister After Only Rival Quits Race

Britain: Cameron’s cursed speech on Europe - are the Eurosceptics derailing?

PM David Cameron 

The story of David Cameron’s much-delayed speech on Europe mixes farce with tragedy. The fact that the Algerian terrorist attack has once again delayed the prime minister’s landmark address, must make Cameron wonder whether the whole enterprise is cursed.

The great Europe speech was initially meant to be given before Xmas. It was put off, amidst reports that there were still deep arguments about its contents. Cameron himself attempted to defuse the controversy with a risque joke – likening the extended wait for his speech to Tantric sex. It would be all the better for the long build-up, he assured his listeners.

Even when it was decided that late January was the moment, there was last minute confusion about the date and venue for the great speech. Monday January 21st was pencilled in, until somebody pointed out that this was the day of Obama’s inaugural address. How about January 22nd? No such luck: this would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty between France and Germany. How could Cameron be so tactless? OK then – January 23rd. No again, that’s the day that the World Economic Forum kicks off in Davos.

The venue of the speech was also a problem. The fact that it would take place in the Netherlands was also only confirmed very late in the day – amidst suggestions that the Dutch were a little nervous about any implication that they are joining the British awkward squad. Eventually the Cameron team settled on a day and a location: January 18th in Amsterdam. A Friday is not ideal, in terms of the news cycle – but it would have to do.

Given all this, Cameron was understandably reluctant to delay the speech once again, when the Algerian crisis broke. But, in the end, he probably made the right call – given what we know about what’s going on in Algeria. However, yet another delay only added to the sense of confusion and mishap surrounding the Cameron speech.

The prime minister might now be wishing that the whole ill-starred project could be quietly called off – particularly since some of the speech’s contents have already been trailed. More than ever, the prime minister is in a no-win situation. Expectations have been ramped up beyond Tantric levels. Reality can only be an anti-climax.

Unfortunately, it is probably too late for Cameron to abandon the whole speech. It will have to be given. Now, they just have to find a date …

Read more: Cameron’s cursed speech on Europe | The World