Theresa May could be named as the next Prime Minister as early as today after Andrea Leadsom announced her withdrawal from the race to become the next Conservative Party leader.
Mrs Leadsom is expected to make the statement at 12.15pm today amid speculation that she may be poised to pull out of the race to replace David Cameron as prime minister.
With the energy minister confirming that she has quit the battle, it leaves Home Secretary Theresa May as the only candidate – potentially clearing the way for her to be named Tory leader and PM as early as today.
However, it was not immediately clear whether Conservative rules would require the party’s 1922 Committee to seek another contender to appear on the ballot paper alongside Mrs May for a planned vote of the party’s 150,000 members.
Graham Brady, the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, is set to make a statement about the leadership contest on the steps of St Stephen’s Entrance to Parliament at 12.30pm.
News of Mrs Leadsom’s statement came moments after Mrs May launched her national campaign with a speech in Birmingham in which she presented herself as the candidate of unity and experience, with the backing of an “overwhelming“ majority of Tory MPs at Westminster.
The Home Secretary took top slot in the MPs’ ballot last week with 199 votes to her rival’s 84.
And Mrs Leadsom’s campaign got off to a disastrous start after she was forced to apologise to Mrs May for a newspaper interview in which she appeared to suggest that being a mother gave her an edge over the childless Home Secretary as a future prime minister.
The energy minister – who entered Parliament in 2010 and has never held a Cabinet post – admitted that she had been “shattered” by the experience of intensive media scrutiny, which also involved questions about apparent inaccuracies on her CV and demands for her to publish her tax returns.
Mrs May left the venue of her campaign launch speech in Birmingham before reporters there were able to ask her about Mrs Leadsom’s statement.
Downing Street sources said discussions were under way about the timing of Mr Cameron’s departure.
The handover of power to a new prime minister had not been expected to take place until after the conclusion of the ballot of 150,000 Conservative members on September 9 but is now expected to happen within days.
There were demands for Mrs May to call a snap general election, rather than waiting for the 2020 contest envisaged under Mr Cameron’s fixed-term parliaments legislation.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “With Theresa May’s coronation we need an early general election. The Tories now have no mandate. Britain deserves better than this.”
And Green MP – and leadership candidate – Caroline Lucas said: “The case for an early general election (is) clearer than ever. Must not be a prime ministerial coronation.”
Shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth said a “coronation” of Mrs May now looked likely, but added that she would have “nothing new” to offer working people, despite her claim in a speech this morning that she would create “a country that works not for the privileged few, but for every one of us”.
Angela Eagle, who formally launched her own bid for the Labour leadership as the dramatic scenes were unfolding at Westminster, was asked why she thought she would be able to defeat Mrs May at an election. She replied: “Because she’s a Tory.”
