Race to replace May leaves Brexit in limbo
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/05/race-to-replace-may-leaves-brexit-in.html
Contenders to succeed Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister
prepared to launch their leadership campaigns on Saturday, leaving
Brexit shrouded in uncertainty.
A tearful May announced her resignation on Friday, leaving the Brexit
process for exiting the European Union in limbo and raising the risk of
Britain crashing out of the bloc in a few months.
May’s statement inevitably triggered the starting gun on a two-month contest to replace her.
May will step down as Conservative leader on June 7 but stay on as
prime minister until party members have chosen her successor, which will
happen by July 20.
Britain’s EU departure date is currently fixed for October 31, although any new leader could ask for a further delay.
Conservative Party leadership contests are typically bloodthirsty affairs, with plot twists and betrayals.
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is the bookmakers’ odds-on favourite, ahead of former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab.
Both have embraced the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
But whoever takes over from May will like her face the same
razor-thin majority in parliament, an EU with no intention of changing
the divorce offer that MPs have rejected three times, and proponents
both for and against Brexit who will never compromise.
Main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said whoever wins the contest should call an immediate general election.
That too would be a risky move, with the newly-formed, single-issue
Brexit Party set to triumph in the European Parliament elections when
the results become clear on Monday.