Race for Theresa May’s job as UK prime minister gets crowded as more names signal intent to run

The race to become Britain’s next premier heated up on Sunday as Environment Secretary Michael Gove joined an already crowded field of hopefuls with competing visions of how to finally pull their divided country out of the EU. Gove’s bid for the leadership in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum scuppered the chances of his one-time ally Boris Johnson, who is also running this time around and is seen as the current favourite. The race to replace Theresa May as British prime minister already has eight contenders vying for the top job. BORIS JOHNSON A former mayor of London, “Boris” or “BoJo”, said Friday he would get Britain out of the European Union “deal or no deal”. A key figure in the 2016 Brexit campaign, he failed in a bid for the top job in its aftermath as ally Michael Gove withdrew his support at the last minute. May appointed Johnson as foreign minister but he quickly drew attention for the wrong reasons, including a series of diplomatic gaffes. He became increasingly uncomfortable with the government’s Brexit strategy before resigning in July. Charismatic and popular with grassroots Conservatives, he has maintained his public profile by writing a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph. JEREMY HUNT The foreign minister supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum but has been highly critical of what he calls the “arrogant” approach since taken by Brussels. A former businessman who speaks fluent Japanese, he is a resilient politician, having headed up the National Health Service for six years during a funding crisis. The 52-year-old replaced Johnson as Britain’s chief diplomat last year. He has said he will push hard for a new deal with Brussels without taking the possibility of a no-deal outcome off the table. DOMINIC RAAB An ardent eurosceptic with a black belt in karate, Raab climbed the ministerial ladder after only joining the government in 2015 under former prime minister David Cameron. He backed Brexit and was named justice minister in the new cabinet after the 2016 referendum. The 45-year-old later served as Brexit secretary from July to November 2018, when he stepped down in protest at the Brexit deal struck with the EU by May. Raab, among the more core constituency of Conservative MPs, wrote in The Mail on Sunday that “I would prefer that we leave with a deal”. But “we will not be taken seriously in Brussels unless we are clear that we will walk away on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms, if the EU doesn’t budge”, Raab stressed. Britain must “calmly demonstrate unflinching resolve to leave when the extension to negotiations end in October – at the latest”, he wrote. MICHAEL GOVE Brexit campaigner Gove initially supported Johnson’s leadership bid in 2016. His last-minute decision to enter the race himself caused both men to lose out to May. “Whatever charisma is, I don’t have it,” he admitted in the race in which he came third. After a year in the political wilderness, he was appointed environment minister in June 2017 and has stayed in the headlines with a series of eco-friendly policy announcements. Equally active in his previous justice and education briefs, the cerebral 51-year-old was among the most ardent eurosceptics left in May’s government. Gove confirmed his intention to run on Sunday, saying he would aim to unite the party and the country and deliver on Brexit. ANDREA LEADSOM Former leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom, who lost out to May in the 2016 contest to replace Cameron, stole a march on her rivals by quitting her cabinet position on Wednesday, hastening the prime minister’s demise and staking out her pro-Brexit credentials. She got down to the final two in the 2016 race, but pulled out before the decision was handed over to party members, with whom she was popular, after coming under fire for saying that being a mother would give her an advantage as prime minister over May. MATT HANCOCK The 40-year-old health secretary is one the party’s rising stars, a moderate who is widely seen as competent at his job and skilful at handling the media. He is one of several ministers who opposed Brexit during the 2016 referendum before switching sides and defending the withdrawal agreement May struck with the EU. Leaving the EU without an agreement is “not an active policy choice that is available to the next prime minister”, Hancock told Sky News. Hancock is viewed as one of the dark horses who might make it through a crowded field of more than a dozen names. The health secretary remains a relative outsider, but the longer the race goes on, the more he gains ground for the seemingly basic virtues of being apparently competent and broadly similar to a normal human being, albeit a particularly energetic one. RORY STEWART The cabinet’s most recent arrival has a privileged, if unorthodox, backstory covering Eton, Oxford, a senior role in postwar Iraq and a bestselling book about walking across Afghanistan. International Development Secretary Rory Stewart is positioning himself as a more consensus-seeking alternative to Johnson. “It now seems that [Johnson] is coming out for a no-deal Brexit,” Stewart told BBC radio. “I think it would be a huge mistake. Damaging, unnecessary, and I think also dishonest.” He remains an outsider, not least because of his remain tendencies and slightly 2010 view of compassionate Conservatism. ESTHER MCVEY The former work and pensions secretary, who quit last year over May’s Brexit plans, has launched her own in-party campaign group/leadership vehicle called Blue Collar Conservatism, promising to make the party more amenable to voters in deprived communities – mainly through a promise to deliver a strong Brexit and policies such as diverting much of the foreign aid budget to schools and police. Whoever is selected in the contest, which is expected to finish in July, will face increasingly frustrated European leaders who say they have made their final offer on Brexit after long and acrimonious talks. May is bowing out with her legacy in tatters and the country in agony over what to do about the voters’ decision to abandon the European project after more than four decades. The markets view the risk of Britain crashing out of the EU bloc when the twice-delayed departure date arrives on October 31 as uncomfortably high. Their main concern is that some of the current frontrunners to head May’s Conservative Party say they will get Brexit done at any cost. “We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal,” former foreign minister Boris Johnson said Friday in Switzerland. Parliamentary party members will begin whittling down the field of contenders to a final two from June 10. The finalists will then be put to a postal ballot of around 100,000 party members in July. With no majority in parliament, the Conservatives only govern with the support of the small Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, a factor that has constantly weakened May’s hand. The opposition Labour Party, which called for an immediate election after May’s announcement, said it would seek a vote of no confidence in the government if it looked like it might pass, while it has also not ruled out backing a second referendum. “Faced with (a no deal) situation, I think there may well be a majority in the House of Commons willing to bring about some form of public vote and that could include a general election,” Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell told BBC radio. Additional reporting by Reuters and The Guardian