Theresa May Is Poised to Be Britains Next Prime Minister - The New York Times

7/11/16, 2:55 PM

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EUROPE

Theresa May Is Poised to Be Britains

Next Prime Minister
By STEPHEN CASTLE

JULY 11, 2016

LONDON After an abrupt end to a dramatic leadership struggle, Theresa May,

the home secretary, emerged on Monday as Britains next prime minister, winning
responsibility for negotiating the nations withdrawal from the European Union,
addressing deep political and social divisions and managing a slumping economy.
Her victory came on another day of rapid developments in British politics and
set in motion a process that officials said would put her in 10 Downing Street by
Wednesday night, succeeding David Cameron as prime minister. Ms. May, 59,
would become the second woman to lead Britain, after Margaret Thatcher, who
governed from 1979 to 1990.
Ms. May is set to take over at a time of immense upheaval for Britain. The
nation must not only negotiate its withdrawal from the European Union, a process
fraught with economic and political risks, but it must also hold itself together amid
a renewed clamor from Scotland for independence. Early signs are that Britains
economy has already taken a substantial hit from the exit vote, or Brexit.
A Conservative like Mrs. Thatcher, Ms. May has won a reputation for
steeliness in her tenure as home secretary. She has pledged to negotiate a deal to
leave the European Union that reasserted Britains ability to control immigration, a
central issue in the referendum on June 23 on whether to leave the bloc.

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Theresa May Is Poised to Be Britains Next Prime Minister - The New York Times

7/11/16, 2:55 PM

But unlike Mrs. Thatcher, Ms. May is seen as a relative political moderate and
on Monday she promised to address inequality, give workers greater
representation on corporate boards and limit tax cuts.
Ms. May said that she was honored and humbled to be chosen for the job,
promised to get the best deal over Britains exit from the European Union and
vowed to create an economy that works not for the privileged few, but for all.
The British referendum on June 23 plunged the European Union into crisis. It
left Britain rudderless as the pound sank in value and both the governing and
opposition parties engaged in fierce and acrimonious leadership battles. Mr.
Cameron, who had supported remaining in the European Union, said after the
referendum that he would resign once the governing Conservatives selected a new
leader, a process that he had expected to last until September but that was
drastically accelerated on Monday.
After making a brief statement describing his successor as strong and
competent, Mr. Cameron was caught on a microphone humming as he returned
to his office.
Mr. Camerons statement completed a day of high political drama in which
Ms. Mays rival for the Conservative Party leadership, Andrea Leadsom, the energy
minister, withdrew from the race. Leading party members quickly coalesced
around Ms. May, insisting that the contest should not be reopened. A party
committee agreed.
Ms. Leadsom had already faced accusations which she denied of
embellishing her curriculum vitae, but her campaign ran aground over the
weekend after The Times of London published an interview in which she suggested
that she was a better candidate because she is a mother, which Ms. May is not.
Surrounded by supportive lawmakers, Ms. Leadsom on Monday made no
reference to that issue, but said that she was quitting the contest and endorsing
Ms. May, and that she hoped to see her installed as prime minister as soon as
possible.
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Theresa May Is Poised to Be Britains Next Prime Minister - The New York Times

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The turn of events meant that Ms. May would become prime minister without
a general election and without completing the campaign she and Ms. Leadsom had
been waging for the endorsement of the Conservative Partys rank-and-file
members.
Last week, the former Conservative cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke described
Ms. May as a bloody difficult woman, noting that he had worked for another
female politician of similar temperament, namely Mrs. Thatcher.
Far from being insulted, Ms. May used the comment to suggest that her
negotiating stance with European officials would be as tough as that of Mrs.
Thatcher, who famously went into battle on the Continent, particularly over British
financial contributions to the bloc.
Ken Clarke might have found me to be a bloody difficult woman. The next
person to find that out will be Jean-Claude Juncker, she told fellow Conservative
lawmakers, referring to the president of the European Commission, the blocs
executive, ITV reported.
But in a speech on Monday, Ms. May outlined an economic agenda unlike that
of Mrs. Thatcher, calling for new mechanisms to curb executive pay and warning
big multinational companies that they must pay their share of taxes.
Ms. May has also been compared to Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany
who, like Ms. May, is the daughter of a clergyman and is known for her nononsense, methodical and pragmatic approach.
The post-referendum turmoil in Britain has also gripped the opposition
Labour Party, prompting a challenge against the leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who has
been accused of not campaigning hard enough against British withdrawal from
Europe. There were growing fears on Monday that the party might split because of
the bitter dispute.
Nevertheless, opposition politicians called for a general election and
questioned Ms. Mays democratic mandate, since she will assume the job on the
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Theresa May Is Poised to Be Britains Next Prime Minister - The New York Times

7/11/16, 2:55 PM

basis of an internal transfer of power within the governing party. So far, Ms. May
has rejected the notion of a quick general election.
Her top priority will be to frame a negotiating strategy for leaving the union,
after the referendum in which she sided with those who wanted to remain.
On Monday, Ms. May insisted that Brexit means Brexit, as she sought to
reassure right-wingers that she was committed to the policy, adding that there will
be no attempt to remain inside the E.U. There will be no attempts to rejoin it by the
back door, no second referendum.
But, while 52 percent of voters supported Brexit, they did so for differing
reasons, including reasserting national sovereignty and opposition to migration
from within the bloc, which guarantees the right to live and work within any
member nation.
Ms. May is expected to take a tough stance on immigration in part because she
is politically vulnerable on the issue. As home secretary, she failed to fulfill a
Conservative manifesto to control the number of people arriving in Britain. The
numbers persistently exceeded targets and included arrivals of non-Europeans,
which the government had the power to curb.
Ms. May has signaled her intention to restrict migration from Europe, even if
doing so hurt Britains position in negotiating a new trade deal with the bloc. She
will also be under pressure from big business to secure the best possible access to
Europes single market, which normally entails accepting the principle of free
movement of workers across national frontiers.
One important question for Ms. May is when to invoke Article 50 of the
European Unions governing treaty, which starts the withdrawal procedure. That
effectively sets a two-year deadline for a deal to be struck. She has suggested that
she intends to wait until her government has settled on its negotiating stance
before invoking the article despite pressure from Europes leaders to act more
quickly.

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Theresa May Is Poised to Be Britains Next Prime Minister - The New York Times

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On Monday she said more about her wider political agenda in a speech that
offered plans to address some of the economic and social inequalities evident in
Britain. Those include populist resentments thought to have motivated many proBrexit voters in area that are depressed economically outside London and in the
affluent southeast of England.
There is a growing divide between a more prosperous older generation and a
struggling younger generation. And there is a gaping chasm between wealthy
London and the rest of the country, she said, positioning herself in a centrist
tradition of one nation Conservatism.
Speaking in Birmingham, England, Ms. May also called for efforts to increase
productivity, for employees and consumers to gain seats on company boards and
for votes on executive pay to become binding, rather than advisory. Big
multinationals should pay their share of taxes, she said, adding: Whether youre
Amazon, Google or Starbucks, you have a duty to put something back, you have a
debt to your fellow citizens, you have a responsibility to pay your taxes.
Follow Stephen Castle on Twitter @_StephenCastle.

2016 The New York Times Company

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