It has always been said a week is a long time in Politics, then it became a day is a long time, well now it must be an hour is a long time.
Last week I made the decision to support Andrea Leadsom in her bid to become the Leader of the Conservative Party and our next Prime Minister. Whilst I am of course sad my preferred candidate has withdrawn, I support Theresa May 100% and believe she will get the job done whilst leading the case for Brexit.
Andrea nobly took the common sense decision to put the country first. She spent the weekend deliberating whether she could realistically go forward with less than a third of the Parliamentary Party's support. Furthermore with her previous experience in the City she knew the possible ramifications on the markets and the stability of the UK economy a long nine week leadership battle could have. Our economic stability after the Brexit vote is of paramount importance for all our citizens, but especially for our large and small business owners. Andrea therefore took the honourable decision to reassure the markets and bring immediate certainty by withdrawing her candidacy.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Theresa May on her winning the Leadership of the Conservative Party and becoming Prime Minister. I have known Theresa for over twenty years and she is a very intelligent hard working person who says what she means and means what she says. With her assurance that Brexit means Brexit I am confident she will ensure the best deal for Britain in the forthcoming negotiations and take us forward with confidence.
Over the coming weeks I am positive Theresa will indeed unite the Conservative Party and the Country. With her commitment to ensuring a country that works for everyone and her proven record in the defence of our country I know she will do an excellent job.
Mrs May will take over as PM on Wednesday and form a new Government, no doubt utilising all available talents from North, South, East and West but in particular the Midlands and I wish her and her husband Philip every success in their new roles.
Finally it is brilliant news there will again be a woman in Number 10, the Conservative Party already has a history of promoting women to the top job, not just advocating it. My apologies to all the men reading this but Margaret Thatcher once said ‘If you want something said, send a man, if you want something done, send a woman’.
When you realise the leaders of two of the devolved Parliaments and the leaders of many political parties across all four of the UK’s nations and possibly the next US President are women, it’s truly amazing times.
(This article was originally written for the Burton Mail).