Theresa May Becomes U.K. Prime Minister
LONDON- Theresa May left Buckingham Palace on Wednesday as Britain’s new prime minister-and with a long list of political challenges in the divided nation that voted last month to leave the European Union.
Ms. May’s ascent to the premiership caps three weeks of turmoil since the Brexit vote prompted pro-EU Prime Minister David Cameron to say he would resign. Ms. May will oversee a complicated, potentially yearslong divorce from the EU, and grapple with a party that was torn apart during the referendum campaign and leadership contest.
Hewing to a centuries-old tradition, Mr. Cameron arrived at the palace around 5 p.m., tendered his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, and recommended she appoint Ms. May-until now, Britain’s home secretary-to succeed him. Ms. May arrived at the palace shortly after, took a photo with the queen, and formally assumed the mantle of prime minister, becoming the second woman to hold the role after Margaret Thatcher.
Mr. Cameron made his final appearance in Parliament as prime minister earlier in the day, when he took questions from members of Parliament on the floor of the House of Commons. He joked that his afternoon schedule was “remarkably light” aside from his meeting with the queen. After Wednesday, “I will watch these exchanges from the backbenches,” he said. “I will miss the roar of the crowd. I will miss the barbs from the opposition.”
Under British constitutional rules, the choice of who heads the government falls to the party with enough seats in Parliament to form a government-in this case the Conservatives, who won a majority in last year’s general election. The party is free to choose who it wants to lead the country any time until the next mandated national vote takes place in 2020.
After Mr. Cameron said he would step down last month, a handful of Conservative lawmakers jostled to replace him.
Days of political positioning winnowed out potential successors, and voting by lawmakers further narrowed the field to the anti-Brexit Ms. May and the pro-Brexit Andrea Leadsom. The race ended unexpectedly Monday, after Ms. Leadsom-under fire for suggesting in a newspaper interview that she was more qualified to lead the nation because she has children and Ms. May doesn’t-dropped out. She said a drawn-out leadership contest wasn’t in Britain’s interest.
Ms. May’s swift appointment as leader of the party put Mr. Cameron in the position of having to move out of his home of six years in just two days. One resident, however, will be staying put: Larry the cat, a brown-and-white tabby. The cat, which holds the title of chief mouser to the cabinet office, was rescued from an animal shelter during Mr. Cameron’s first year in office to help handle a problem with rodents.
“Sadly I can’t take Larry with me,” Mr. Cameron said in Parliament to laughter. “He belongs to the house and the staff love him very much, as do I.”
As home secretary, Ms. May had a job portfolio spanning law enforcement, immigration and domestic security. She was one of the country’s longest-serving home secretaries and gained a reputation for firmness, facing off against police over funding and oversight and pushing immigration limits.
A poll published Wednesday by Ipsos Mori found that 55% of those surveyed said Ms. May had what it took to be a good prime minister, up from 28% in July 2015. The satisfaction ratings of Mr. Cameron and leader of the opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, have fallen to their lowest ever, the survey showed.
One of Ms. May’s first major decisions will be when to formally trigger Britain’s exit from the bloc under Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. Once she gives official notice of the withdrawal, the U.K. will have two years to negotiate terms of separation. That includes what happens to the three million non-British EU citizens living in the U.K. and the Britons living elsewhere in the EU under the bloc’s freedom-of-movement rules, which may no longer apply once the U.K. exits the bloc.
Mr. Cameron said Wednesday that Britain was working hard to guarantee EU citizens living in the U.K. that they would be able to stay in the country, and that the only way they would have to leave would be if other EU countries didn’t allow British citizens living there to stay.
In his final speech as prime minister, Mr. Cameron said Ms. May would provide strong and stable leadership.
“It has not been an easy journey, and of course we have not got every decision right, but I do believe that today our country is much stronger,” Mr. Cameron said.
Shortly after her meeting with the queen, Ms May gave her first address as prime minister and said the U.K. would forge a “bold, new positive role” for itself in the world as it leaves the EU. She added that she would work to fight injustices in society and that her government would be driven by the interests of those struggling to get by rather than the privileged few.
“We are living through an important moment in our country’s history,” she said outside Downing Street. “Following the referendum, we face a time of great national change. And I know, because we’re great Britain, that we will rise hold on to his postto the challenge.”
Ms. May is also expected to choose a new cabinet, which will likely include prominent figures from both sides of the EU referendum debate as she ventures to unify the party. One major question is whether George Osborne, Britain’s treasury chief, will hold on to his post. She will also have to choose a politician to lead the government’s Brexit unit, which will focus on the U.K.’s separation from the EU.
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