Contenders to succeed British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday prepared to launch their leadership campaigns, leaving Brexit shrouded in uncertainty.
A tearful May announced her resignation on Friday, leaving the Brexit process for exiting the EU in limbo and raising the risk of the UK crashing out of the bloc in a few months.
Her statement inevitably triggered the starting gun on a two-month contest to replace her.
May is to step down as Conservative Party leader on June 7, but stay on as prime minister until party members have chosen her successor, which is to happen by July 20.
The UK’s EU departure date is fixed for Oct. 31, although any new leader could ask for a further delay.
Former British secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs Boris Johnson is the bookmakers’ odds-on favorite, ahead of former British secretary of state for exiting the EU Dominic Raab.
Both have embraced the prospect of a “no-deal” Brexit.
However, whoever takes over from May would like her face the same razor-thin majority in parliament, an EU with no intention of changing the divorce offer that British lawmakers have rejected three times, and proponents both for and against Brexit who would never compromise.
Main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that whoever wins the contest should call an immediate general election.
That too would be a risky move, with the newly formed, single-issue Brexit Party set to triumph in the European Parliament elections when the results become clear tomorrow.
Raab, as well as British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt, and British Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove all held off from throwing their hats in the ring on Friday, but are widely expected to stand.
The next prime minister of the UK, a country of more than 66 million people, would be decided by the 100,000 or so paid-up members of the Conservative Party.
After Johnson and Raab, the next most likely winners are Gove, Hunt and former British House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, bookmakers said.
They are followed by British International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, British Secretary of Defence Penny Mordaunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock became the latest figure to join the contest to replace May.
He joins Johnson, Stewart and former pensions minister Esther McVey, who have declared their intention to stand.
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