Britain is on track to have its first female prime minister since Margaret Thatcher.
On Thursday, July 7, 2016, Member of Parliament Michael Gove was eliminated during the second round of voting by MPs for leadership of the Conservative Party, which currently has control of Parliament. That vote narrowed the race down to two contenders: Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom. The final vote is set for Sept. 9.
May, who has served as Britain’s Home Secretary since 2010, is seen as the favorite to replace outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron announced his resignation last month after British voters narrowly elected to leave the European Union, a move he opposed.
“I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction,” Cameron said upon resigning.
May supported Britain remaining in the EU, but has pledged to hold up the Brexit vote.
“Brexit means Brexit,” she said last month. “There must be no attempts to remain inside the E.U., no attempts to rejoin it through the back door and no second referendum.”
May has come under fire for suggesting the 3 million EU citizens living inside the U.K. might have to leave after the country exits. That stance has been challenged by members of her own party as well as the Labour Party.
Leadsom, meanwhile, was one of the Leave campaign’s most vocal advocates, and has pledged to swiftly carry out Britain’s exit from the EU if elected.
“We need to get on with it,” she said.
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson, also a champion of the Brexit campaign, bowed out of the race in late June. He’s instead endorsed Leadsom for the post of prime minister.
Thatcher, who served as Britain’s leader from 1979 to 1990, was the country’s first and only female PM.
