Gove Out of Tory Leadership Race

As Michael Gove is elected out of the Conservative leadership race, we now know we will certainly have a female Prime Minister in September. Tory MPs have whittled down the leadership contestants to Theresa May and the lesser-known former economic minister Andrea Leadsom and the next Prime Minister will be elected in a leadership vote open to all members of the Conservative party on the 9th of September. May was far ahead with 199 votes, Leadsom had 84, and Gove lagged behind on 46. Gove has congratulated the two front-runners since the result and expressed regret at not having been able to continue on in the race.

There have been calls from party members to bring forward the election, calling for a steady leader to lead the country through the Brexit process and to calm unsteady markets. Former party co-chair, Grant Shapps, has written to the current chair Andrew Feldman, asking him to speed up the election process significantly in light of the fact MPs have come to a decision on the final candidates in less than a week. He wrote, “This country desperately needs post-Brexit direction in order to avoid a political vacuum bearing serious consequences for all those we represent,” and he is suspected to be gathering support across the party for the fast-track process.

The significant lead from May cannot guarantee her election in September, as the final vote often throws out surprising results. The most famous example of this is Jeremy Corbyn, who barely made it onto the leadership ballot but won with a huge mandate at the mass vote. It remains unclear how the party will vote and whether May’s contribution, although small, to the remain campaign will affect the voters. Predictions have been made that Leadsom will attract the further right wing of the Tory vote, and attract many UKIP supporters, however Ian Duncan Smith has told the BBC that he predicts now that we have left the EU, UKIP will all but disappear.