Theresa May won a landslide victory in the final ballot of Tory MPs tonight as Michael Gove was sensationally knocked out, pitting the Home Secretary against Andrea Leadsom in the battle for Downing Street.
The result means Britain will have its second female prime minister within nine weeks, with the winner to be decided in a ballot of 150,000 Conservative party members over the summer recess.
Mrs May received 199 of the votes to Mrs Leadsom's 84, with Mr Gove trailing far behind on just 46 votes.
Having won the backing of six in ten Conservative MPs, she is now in prime position to take over from David Cameron in Downing Street, with the final result set to be announced by September 9.
Theresa May (pictured) won a landslide victory in the final ballot of Tory MPs tonight as Michael Gove was sensationally knocked out, pitting the Home Secretary against Andrea Leadsom in the battle to become prime minister.
The result was humiliating for Mr Gove, who remarkably lost two votes since the last round of voting on Tuesday after a cynical attempt by his campaign chief to urge backers of Mrs May to lend votes to the Justice Secretary to exclude Mrs Leadsom, a right-winger, from the final shortlist.
But reacting to the result tonight, Mr Gove paid tribute to the two women, saying they both possessed 'formidable skills' who will 'lead this country well'.
Speaking outside parliament immediately after the vote, the triumphant Mrs May said she was ‘delighted’ to have won ‘such wide support from my colleagues’ .
‘This vote shows that the Conservative Party can come together and under my leadership it will,’ she said. She insisted she had ‘always said there should be a contest’.
She added: ‘Now is the time for me and my team to take my case out to the party members in the country.’
‘This is based on three things.We need proven leadership to negotiate the best deal for leaving the European Union.
‘We need to unite our party and our country. We need to make Britain a country that works not just for the few but for everyone.
‘These are the things that my colleagues voted for in such numbers today. These are the things that will win support of members across the country and, indeed, the whole country.’
The result means Britain will have its second female prime minister within nine weeks, with the winner to be decided in a ballot of 150,000 Conservative party members over the summer recess.
No comments:
Post a Comment