Andrea Leadsom will go head-to-head with Theresa May in the race to become the UK's next prime minister, it has been announced.
Leadsom – a prominent campaigner for Britain to leave the European Union – secured the backing of 84 Conservative MPs in a ballot on the party's leadership, with the vote ending the candidacy of justice secretary Michael Gove. Gove picked up 46 votes, while Theresa May won the support of 199 MPs.
The ballot will now be thrown open to the Conservative party's 150,000 members throughout the summer, with the winning candidate going on to lead the party and succeed David Cameron as prime minister. The result will be announced on September 9, with the new leader taking to the stage at the Tory party conference on October 2.
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Leadsom has never held a cabinet-level post, but has said she is uniquely placed to "deliver on the promises of the referendum" because she can "see the advantages and believe in them". She has suggested that she will be quicker out of the blocks than her rival in triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal mechanism that starts talks with fellow EU countries on Brexit.
“Neither we nor our European friends need prolonged uncertainty and not everything needs to be negotiated before article 50 is triggered and the exit process is concluded,” she said in a speech launching her candidacy earlier this week.
Leadsom will square off against May, the long-serving home secretary, who backed Remain but has vowed to created a dedicated Brexit department to oversee the UK's withdrawal from the bloc. May has said she will not trigger Article 50 this year.
A Cabinet Office unit staffed by civil servants from across Whitehall has already begun drawing up a roadmap for withdrawal so that either May or Leadsom can hit the ground running. The Tory leadership contest was prompted by David Cameron's decision to resign in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the EU.