In an emotional farewell speech, British PM Theresa May announced her resignation from office last week. She will step down on June 8. And now, as they day draws closer, the list of politicians to replace May gets populated. Conservative MP Mark Harper becomes the 12th candidate from the party in the contest to replace May. Harper had told that he views himself as an underdog and told that his low profile could actually work in his favour.
"We've seen basically the same faces saying the same things that they've been saying for the last three years," he said. As of now, pro-Brexiteer Boris Johnson is a hot favourite for the job. Him being popular among grassroot party members works in his favour.
Brexit will be a main topic of contention in the the battle to replace May, who was brought down by her failure to take Britain out of the European Union on March 29 as planned.
Votes, however will be cast only after Tory MPs whittle down the list that currently contains 12 names to a total of two.
Opposition Labour Party was punished for its ambiguity over Brexit, coming in third place behind the stridently anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats at the recent EU parliamentary elections. Tories suffered humiliation too receiving only nine per cent of the vote. Majority share of the votes have gone to the newly-formed Brexit Party. A study by YouGov found that 24 per cent of voters would vote for the Lib Dems at a general election, 22 per cent for the Brexit Party and Tories and Labour would get 19 per cent votes each.
According to a recently published poll, the realignment of British politics away from the traditional two parties towards a more dispersed model reshaped by Brexit appears to be gathering momentum.
