Conservative Party Home Secretary Theresa May will assume the leadership post with Queen Elizabeth's formal blessing.
LONDON, July 11: Prime Minister David Cameron said he will step down on Wednesday, making way for Theresa May to succeed him as British leader.
Cameron said it's clear May has “the overwhelming support” of Conservative lawmakers. He said May’s rival Andrea Leadsom made the right decision to withdraw from the race, ending the party leadership race.
Cameron said he will attend a final session of Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday before going to visit Queen Elizabeth II and tendering his resignation.
UK leader David Cameron to resign after Brexit humiliation
The queen has the formal role of appointing the new leader.
Andrea Leadsom, one of two Conservative lawmakers vying to replace Cameron, withdrew from the contest Monday, leaving May as the sole remaining candidate.
The party was expected to address whether it would to re-open the contest to candidates eliminated in earlier rounds or declare May the winner unopposed. If so, she could be prime minister within days. Cameron is resigning after British voters rejected his advice and chose to leave the European Union in a referendum last month.
Leadsom withdrew after a weekend uproar over comments she made suggesting that being a mother would be an advantage in the job. Leadsom has children; May does not.
It wasn’t clear whether the flap affected her decision to drop out. She said simply that she did not believe she had sufficient support within the party to remain in the race.
Leadsom said “business needs certainty” in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, which has unsettled the markets and sent the value of the pound plunging.
She said Britain needed a government that would “move quickly to set out what an independent United Kingdom’s framework for business looks like.
“We now need a new prime minister in place as soon as possible,” Leadsom said.
