Maggie 2.0: Another woman on top?

Paul Fry
Jul 5, 2016
3 min read

It seems like the UK is set to have a woman in charge at No. 10 again. The ruling Tories started voting for a new leader after David Cameron was fatally wounded by the Brexit vote.

Theresa May (above) and Andrea Leadsom are the clear front-runners to be in the John Lewis queue for new curtains in Downing Street. But the winner will inherit a poisoned chalice as well as a disunited party and country.

May, Britain's longest-serving Home Secretary, championed the Remain cause in the Referendum, while Leadsom, the Energy Minister, spoke out loudly to Leave. Their respective stances could determine the outcome. So although May is the overwhelming favourite, Ledsom, endorsed by Boris Johnson, could get up on the rails when the others in the race - treacherous Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox - are eliminated from the field.

May is publicly backed by more than 100 MPs.

The result will be declared in early September but the winner will be apparent within a week or two.

Fox, who finished last in today's first round with just 16 votes, was eliminated and others may choose to drop out if they feel they have no realistic chance.

More rounds will be held until the candidates are whittled down to two, and the next round is on Thursday. After the final two are elected by MPs, the party’s members will vote through a postal ballot to decide the leader, who will also take over as prime minister.

According to May, the next government should be much more than about Brexit. She has pledged to create a department to handle the negotiations with Brussels, and appoint a leading Brexiter to head it.

The irony being that Britain has no skilled trade negotiators, and may have to bring in immigrants to do it.

New Zealand and Australia, who both want to tie up deals with the UK, have offered key staff to help with the process.

As support for Leadsom increased in recent days, the final two candidates could be women, which will return a woman prime minister – the first since Thatcher, who was in charge from 1979 to 1990. I would argue that harsh though her rule was, successive UK Governments - Labour too - have out-Thatchered the Iron Lady.

With the country rudderless after the Referendum, it needs strong leadership. But the issue that so divided people during the EU vote, is sure to play out in the Tory election as May is known for being tough on immigration. She recently introduced rules that meant non-EU nationals who did not earn £35,000 a year would lose their status here. That was brought in with the Government under pressure to cut the numbers coming in, with net immigration adding 330,000 - city the size of Leicester - each year. EU citizens have free movement, within certain bounds, so the only place to rein in the numbers was from outside the bloc.

A key factor in determining the new PM will be the candidates' stance on what to do with the 3 million or so EU nationals already here. Do they stay or go, while blocking new arrivals?

The candidates are all holding to an agenda that upholds the Brexit vote. But, having had countless lies from the EU campaign outed, who knows? Parliament could still vote to ignore the Referendum result and put its will ahead of the will of the people. A majority in the Commons favour IN - and must vote OUT before the exit begins in earnest.

So who is man enough for the task? With leading pro-Brexiteers, Boris, Nigel Farage and most likely Gove forced from the stage, it might be that the task will actually fall to a woman. They say mummy knows best...

UPDATE: Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb later pulled out of the race and threw his weight behind Theresa May's bid.