The race to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has been filled with surprises, treachery, and competition. Now, Conservative members of Parliament have cast their votes upon who they feel should go neck-and-neck to become the UK’s new PM and it appears Interior Minister, Theresa May, 59, and Energy and Climate Change Minister Andrea Leadsom, 53, are the chosen frontrunners.

On Thursday, 7 July 2016, Conservative members of parliament voted for May and Leadsom to continue the running to be Britain’s next Prime Minister. This will be the second time in the UK’s history that a woman would hold such a title, after the Iron Lady herself Margaret Thatcher, leading from 1979 to 1990.

conservative-ballot
British Home Secretary Theresa May received the backing of 165 lawmakers Tuesday during the first round of voting to choose the next leader of the Conservative Party. Credit: WSJ/Will Oliver/European Pressphoto Agency

The results collected in the Conservative ballot were as follows: 199 votes for May, Leadsom securing the second position with 84 votes and Gove coming last and dropping out of the race with 46 votes.

It has come as no surprise that Justice Secretary, Michael Gove received such dismal results in the ballot after he made the sudden switch from Boris Johnson’s campaign manager to the competitor in the candidature stating that he did not feel as though Johnson was the man for the job. This rather cunning move set off alarms for many Tories for whom such a maneuver spelled disloyalty.

What do we know about May and Leadsom?

There has been a giant question mark as to who will take the next title as Prime Minister of Britain after David Cameron stepped down when the referendum results swayed in favor of Brexit and after the leader of this move away from the European Union, Boris Johnson, decided to pull out of the running.

With Gove gone, it appears that the expression reigns true here: never send a man to do a woman’s job. Many feel that both May and Leadsom seem to possess the qualities that could potentially lead Britain forward and its economy into recovery: competence, grace, passion, and wit. However, besides appearances, what do we know about these two candidates?

Theresa May: Home Secretary, MP for Maidenhead since 1997. Her early education took place at Grammar school and tertiary at Oxford University, where she received a degree in Geography. Before she entered politics, she was a Financial Consultant at Bank of England. She has been married for 36 years to Philip May, a pension fund manager she met at university and has no children. She is known for her strong hand and having opted to stay in the European Union, although she played a small role in its realization.

Andrea Leadsom: Energy and Climate Change Minister, MP for South Northamptonshire since 2010. She also attended the Grammar School and later received a degree in Political Science from Warwick University. Before she entered the political realm, she was in banking. She has been married for 23 years to Ben Leadsom, an investment banker and former director of a company that designed software algorithms for hedge funds, with whom she has two sons and a daughter. Leadsom aspires to walk in Thatcher’s path, who was the same age as the candidate when she became Prime Minister. However, little is yet to be known about her leading style.

The candidates will hopefully rise to the challenge and set Britain back on course. The results of the final ballot will be released in September.

Source: Daily Mail UK