JUST when it appeared like Westminster was settling into a protracted summer season of party-leadership elections, Andrea Leadsom this morning minimize the Conservative contest brief by withdrawing from the race to succeed David Cameron. That leaves simply Theresa Could. In an announcement given shortly afterwards Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory MPs, introduced that—pending a closing affirmation from the occasion’s board—the house secretary will thus be put in as chief of the occasion. She is anticipated to take over from Mr Cameron quickly, probably earlier than the top of the week. Sources near the prime minister have confirmed that he doesn’t intend to carry up proceedings.
What do we all know of the lady who will quickly transfer into 10 Downing Road? Her lengthy (six years) spell as dwelling secretary, a job referred to as a graveyard of careers, has given her a repute for being inscrutable, competent and—in some respects—authoritarian (see article). She is a hawk on immigration. Then again, she was warning her occasion of its “nasty” repute, three years earlier than Mr Cameron grew to become chief and set about attempting to modernise it. She was instrumental to the legalisation of homosexual marriage three years in the past and was on the Stay aspect of Britain’s EU referendum marketing campaign, albeit holding largely quiet about it.
This morning’s information got here simply as Mrs Could was giving a speech during which she pinched a sequence of social-democratic insurance policies from Labour (she known as for employees on firm boards, extra sharing of the proceeds of development and a crackdown on company tax-dodging), in what could sign an intention to tilt her occasion’s financial stance fractionally leftwards. Nonetheless, her premiership will probably be dominated by one topic, and one alone: Brexit. The brand new prime minister has mentioned she is not going to rush to invoke Article 50, starting formal exit talks, and in her public pronouncements has emphasised the significance of retaining single-market entry to a better diploma than a few of her extra die-hard Eurosceptic colleagues, a few of whom query whether or not she’s going to drive a tough sufficient cut price with the 26 different EU states.
Given the approaching storms—from the renegotiation to the financial fallout from Britain’s resolution on June twenty third—Mrs Could will certainly be tempted to name an early election. She has beforehand dominated this out. However these round her obsess about avoiding the errors of Gordon Brown, one other introverted grasp of element who inherited the premiership reasonably than profitable it on the polls. Mr Brown contemplated a vote in 2007 when he took over from Tony Blair, chickened out and lived to remorse it. In order the house secretary prepares her transfer to that storied, terraced home in SW1 and contemplates a Labour Social gathering tearing itself aside, the thought should cross her thoughts: time to go to the nation and safe a five-year lease?
