London, England- After Brexit referendum, James Cameron announced he will be resigning as Prime Minister at the end of the year, starting a new political race to lead the country. Ex-London mayor, Boris Johnson was going to be the Conservative leader in the upcoming elections, but he announced his withdrawal, a few hours later after his fellow Brexit campaigner, Michael Gove, stated on Thursday morning that he would run for the leadership.
Johnson, the man who led Britain out of Europe, was going to announce his campaign to become prime minister at Westminster’s St. Ermin’s Hotel at 11:30 but 3 hours before his public speech, Johnson received an email from his campaign manager, Michael Gove.
Gove, the justice secretary, and Johnson’s supporter stated in the email that he had come to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead. Michael wrote that he would be running for prime minister himself, The Washington Post reported.
Boris Johnson talked about the things he had accomplished as London Mayor and he also mentioned a vision for making Britain a more just and more prosperous society now that the country is out of the E.U.
At the end of his speech, he announced that he was not going to be the Conservative leader for the next election, and he declared that the country needed a leader to take a new direction but that he concluded that person was not him.
The politician was hardly criticized after the news by some that took the announcement with skepticism.
A political scientist from the University of Manchester, Rob Ford, tweeted that Boris ignited a constitutional crisis, and now he is not going to assume the responsibility.
Boris Johnson and Michael Gove campaign together to leave the E.U. at Brexit
According to Politico, A Johnson ally said Gove pulled his support because he did not think that the former London mayor was committed himself to the Leave campaign or to fully pulling Britain out of the E.U.
The Washington Post says that days after Brexit, Johnson has started to say he would fold easily on immigration, which is in conflict with the Leave campaign signature that was the opposite, that proposed a strong fold on immigration.
Michael Gove is very firm regarding his stand on Brexit and according to the Washington Post, the campaign’s intellectual architect.
Johnson’s withdrawal from the prime minister race leaves Home Secretary Theresa May as the Conservative candidate.
The remaining candidates are then Theresa May, Michael Gove, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb. They all have committed to went through Brexit with controls on free movement of people.
Brexit referendum was held on Thursday 23 June. More than 30 million people voted, and the Leave won by 52% to 48%.
Now, James Cameron, who will step down by October, or the next prime minister has to invoke the Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty to start the legal process of leaving the E.U.
Source: The Washington Post