Resigning today as Prime Minister, 62-year old Tory leader Theresa May fell on her sword for not delivering Brexit. May couldn’t get a consensus in Parliament to leave the European Union, with the stubborn Northern Ireland border situation unresolved. May couldn’t get the European Union to guarantee a passport free zone in Northern Ireland, throwing the Brexit deal into chaos. May asked and received an extension until Oct. 31, 2019 but showed no confidence that she could get a deal from the EU without crashing out without an agreement. May practically stood on her head, holding meeting-after-meeting with the EU for months, in the end giving her no better deal to satisfy the British Parliament. “I will shortly leave the job has been the honor of my life to hold,” May told the press, reluctant surrendering power. In the end, MPs had no confidence that May could deliver an acceptable Brexit deal.
Jockeying for position to take over for May, British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, a major Brexit backer, looks like the prohibitive favorite to lead the Tory Party, becoming the next resident at 10 Downing St. Johnson was one of May’s biggest critics while she worked feverishly with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk to work out a Brexit Deal. In the end, the EU wasn’t willing to give the British Parliament any more guarantees about the Northern Ireland border, leaving Brexit in limbo. “It is and will always as matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” May said. Labor Leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the government to let the people decide the next Prime Minister.
Corbyn would like to become Labor’s new Prime Minister, despite strong opposition in the Tory Party. Corbyn doesn’t like the fact that the Tory Party will pick its next leader to replace May as Prime Minister. Already seen leaning too far to the left, Corbyn is despised by the Tory Party. Corbyn though that getting rid of May would give him the best shot of becoming Prime Minister. While other Tories plan to run for Prime Minister, including Brexit backer Domiinic Raab, Environmental Secretary Michael Gove, former House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom and Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt, only Johnson has much chance of leading the Tory Party. Most of May’s successors want a tougher Brexit deal than the one offered at this point by the European Union. EU officials have offered no assurance that things would be different with another Prime Minister.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that the EU was not likely to budge on its last offer to May, potentially pushing the U.K. into a hard Brexit or so-called “no Brexit” deal. “This idea that a new prime minister will be a tougher negotiator and will put it up to the EU and get a much better deal for Britian? That’s not how the EU works,” Coveney said. French Prime Minister Emanuel Macron, an influential EU member, made no promise about a better deal. Macron praised May for “courageous work,” despite knowing the EU drove her from office. Had the EU shown more flexibility on Northern Ireland, it’s possible May could have survived as Prime Minister. “I like her very much, she is a good woman, she worked very hard,” said U.S. President Donald Trump, a bigger backer of Brexit. Trump backed Brexit because it gave the U.K. more autonomy over the EU.
Britain’s betting markets give Johnson a 40% chance of winning Prime Minister, when the Tory Party finished its process of elimination, paring candidates, then voting on the favorites until one person is picked to lead the Party. “We will leave the EU on Oct. 31, deal or not deal,” Johnson told Tory Party member in Switzerland. Johnson thinks that once the U.K, is out of the EU, it could forge a “fantastic free trade relationship” but only after the U.K. has exited the EU. Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt. International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and Home Secretary Sajid Javid have between 3%-4% chance of becoming next Prime Minister. Tory Party leaders plan to pick the next Prime Minister, not give Corbyn any chance. “The fight for the heart and soul of the Conservative Party officially starts now,” said Andrew Bridgne, a pr-Brexit MP, saying the Tory Party would pick the next leader.
May’s failure to win over Parliament for a Brexit deal hinged on a custom’s union in Northern Ireland. Since trade between the EU’s Irish Republic and Northern Ireland was paramount, May could not get the EU to guarantee a customs union. “We need a new PM as soon as possible, and who that is will decide the future of our democracy, our country and the Conservative Party,” said Bridgen. Losing ground against the U.S. dollar and euro, Britain’s Brexit woes continue to haunt the Kingdom. Conservative lawmaker Graham Brady resigned from the 1922 Committee MPs bench to toss his hat in the ring. Whatever happens in the Tory Party, there’s no guarantee a new Prime Minister can get the Parliament to go along. If Parliament rejects Brexit again it could force a new vote to keep the U.K. in the EU.
