Like bowling pins, all prominent figures in the Brexit “Leave EU” campaign, have fallen out of leadership roles within a couple of weeks of winning the Brexit vote, toppling each other in succession.
The most prominent “Leave” faces, Tory Boris Johnson and UKIP leader Nigel Farage, withdrew first. Johnson was tripped up by his second-in-command in the “Leave” campaign, Michael Gove, when the latter announced he wants to run for Tory leadership himself.
Since the PM post is elected by the party that wins the general elections, once sitting PM David Cameron (who campaigned vigorously for “Remain”) resigned in the aftermath of his Brexit loss, it was up to Tory MPs to whittle down the candidates to two, and then up to Tory party members (in the UK that means dues-paying members) to elect the new PM.
Establishment candidate and Home (=Interior) Minister Theresa May, who had campaigned with Cameron for the UK to Remain in the EU, led the vote among MPs, with quirky social conservative Andrea Leadsom a distant second, and the hugely unpopular Gove an even more distant third.
The runoff between the two women was announced last week, slated for early September. While May seemed the heavy favorite on paper, it was unclear whether the restive Tory base might stage “A Trump” on its politicians and put Leadsom, who had campaigned for “Leave”, in power.
Well, now Leadsom, who had stumbled badly out of the gate by suggesting she cares more about the future because she’s “a mother” and May isn’t, has nixed the contest by withdrawing. Which means that an unelected, anti-Brexit, Tory politician is now supposed to lead the nation towards its Brexit negotiations.
Only bright point might be that May, the 2nd female PM in UK history, is a self-declared feminist (unlike the 1st one, Thatcher), and might provide a steady hand at the wheel.
But somehow, my gut feel is that the clustef**k in the UK is becoming worse by the minute.