Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May win Tory MPs’ vote on leadership
The home secretary, Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom, the junior energy minister who campaigned for Brexit, will be the two candidates put before Conservative party members in the vote to confirm Britain’s next prime minister.
Conservative MPs chose Leadsom, who was considered a rank outsider when the contest began, over the justice secretary, Michael Gove, who entered the contest last Friday, effectively stopping his fellow Vote Leave campaigner Boris Johnson from entering the race.
In the second round of voting by Tory MPs, May scooped up 199 votes, Leadsom scored 84 and Gove was knocked out, with just 46. The choice means that the next British prime minister is guaranteed to be a woman, the second after Margaret Thatcher.
May said Britain needed “strong, proven” leadershi...