May to take on Leadsom to be next Prime Minister
Home Secretary Mrs. Theresa May finished with 199 votes with Energy Minister Mrs. Leadsom 84 will battle it out to become the next leader of the Conservative Party after Michael Gove , the justice secretary 46 was eliminated. Conservative will now decide the winning candidate, with the result due on 9th September 2016. The winner will become the UK’s second female prime minister.
David Cameron resigned after finishing on the losing side in the UK’s EU referendum, in which there was a vote for the UK to leave. The results were announced at Westminster by Conservative MP Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee. There had originally been five contenders to succeed Mr. Cameron, with MPs voting in two rounds to get that number down to two.
The contest now moves to its final stages with the Conservative Party’s 150, 000 strong membership deciding between Mrs. May, a Remain campaigner with a long track record in government and Mrs. Leadsom, a leading Brexit campaigner who has stressed her City and Business background. Mrs. Leadsom is supported by the former worker and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith , Boris Johnson, Former London Mayor and one-time leadership favourite.