Britain will have first female leader since Margaret Thatcher

[w4rma]

Source: The Washington Post

The contest will pit the home affairs secretary, Theresa May, against Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom in a race that features contenders who were on opposite sides of last month’s European Union referendum.

In a vote among 330 Tory members of Parliament on Thursday, May was on top with 199 votes compared to 84 for Leadsom. A third candidate, justice secretary Michael Gove, was knocked out after securing just 46 votes.
…
May officially backed “remain,” but in practice largely sat on the sidelines.

She has long held strongly Euroskeptic views, and has said that there will be no rerun of the referendum if she becomes prime minister. “Brexit means Brexit,” she said last week when she announced her candidacy.
…
Polls show that May is well ahead of Leadsom among Conservative members, just as she was among the party’s Parliamentary delegation.

Leadsom has continued to be an outspoken advocate for Brexit, even as other prominent “leave” campaigners have stepped back from frontline politics amid the chaos unleashed by last month’s vote.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/british-prime-minister-contest-down-to-two-women-amid-eu-exit-fallout/2016/07/07/8499b76e-4390-11e6-a76d-3550dba926ac_story.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I hope her gender will be the only thing she has in common with Thatcher.

[w4rma]

2. They are all Tories. (nt)

[TexasProgresive]

3. Thacher wannabes. n/t

[LeftishBrit]

15. It won't be.

The frontrunner is a somewhat less intelligent version of Thatcher. The alternative, of whom practically no one had previously heard, seems to be a somewhat more intelligent version of Palin (and I did say 'somewhat'!)

[T_i_B]

17. Andrea Leadsom would be a LOT worse than Thatcher

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Wow, tough act to follow.

[NewJeffCT]

4. When will Labour

be able to put up a woman that can become Prime Minister?

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Didn't they have a good one who died too soon?

[StevieM]

7. I think you may be thinking of John Smith, the Labour Party leader who died in 1994.

He was temporarily succeeded by Margaret Becket, who was deputy party leader. She lost the leadership election to Tony Blair.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)_leadership_election,_1994

[TreasonousBastard]

9. It was Jo Cox, shot by a madman over Brexit...

She wasn't in the leadership that I know of, but seems to have been well though of and highly energetic. Might have had an interesting future in Labour had she lived.

[StevieM]

13. Oh sorry, I thought you were referring to someone who had already served as Labour Party leader.

Actually, it turns out that Harriet Harman was acting Labour Party leader on two occasions, first when Gordon Smith stepped down and then again when Ed Miliband stepped down.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. No apologies necessary-- I was unclear...

and I don't really know that much about Cox, just that from her obits she seemed to have a future over there.

[Nye Bevan]

16. Harriet Harman has always seemed impressive, from what little I have seen of her.

Any UK DUers who can explain why she never got the top job?

[T_i_B]

18. She was anything but impressive

Harman's stint as acting leader was in fact a total disaster. her mishandling of a very important welfare vote was a major factor in the election of Jeremy Corbyn.

There were 2 female candidates for Labour leader standing against Corbyn. Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. Yvette Cooper is just about the most unispiring, mealy-mouthed politican imaginable, and Liz Kendall ran on a right wing ultra-Blairite plaform, which unsurprisingly only got her 5% of the vote in the Labour leadership contest.

Andrea Eagle has been talked of as a possible challenger to Jeremy Corbyn, although I'm not sure she would be the best candidate Labour has to offer.

[Nye Bevan]

21. Thanks.

Always good to get my misconceptions corrected by people who actually know what they are talking about.

[underpants]

5. I thought Adele was their leader

???

[shenmue]

11. I wish

[underpants]

12. Well, she knows a lot about breakups

Could come in handy really soon

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. duplicate thread of

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141511313

[w4rma]

10. That post isn't even quoting any article. And, this OP talks about their positions on Brexit. (nt)

[T_i_B]

19. I do actually think there is something of a "crisis of masculinity" in politics right now

Men are increasingly playing less of a role, and women more of a role.

The only reason I can think of for this is that male politicians are increasingly in the Donald Trump / Nigel Farage mould. Figures with big mouths who shy away from responsibility and have no statesmanship whatsoever. Compare and contrast with a politician like Angela Merkel and it just becomes embarrassing.