British home secretary Theresa May may be a favorite among Conservative MPs to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron, who resigned after Great Britain voted to leave the European Union last Friday. Boris Johnson, the former London Mayor, remains the frontrunner to succeed Cameron after his campaign for Brexit saw his popularity surge among the party’s grassroots supporters. But Alan Duncan, a Conservative MP and former minister, has said that he probably would not back Johnson, and that the new PM does not necessarily have to be a Brexiter. A senior Tory who backed leaving the E.U. has told The Guardian that the party remains unconvinced of Johnson as a leader, and would consider backing May were she to declare an interest. May, it appears, is on everyone’s radar as a means of blockading the former London Mayor — a potential “Stop Boris” candidate.
May maintained a low profile during Cameron’s campaign to remain within the EU, but her call for withdrawal from the European convention on human rights during the Bexit campaign has led to hope she could become a bridge between Eurosceptics and modernizing wings within the Conservative party. Conservative candidates may be able to throw their names into the ring as early this week, with the new PM to be chosen by a vote of 150,000 Conservative members in September.
