03 July 2016•Update: 04 July 2016
LONDON
The frontrunners in Britain’s Tory leadership contest, top figures from the opposing Remain and Leave campaigns, appeared on TV on Sunday to sell themselves as the best choice to lead post-referendum Britain.
Appearing on ITV, UK Home Secretary Theresa May, who supported the losing Remain side in the June 23 referendum, dismissed arguments that the next prime minister should be someone who argued for Brexit.
“I have been clear that Brexit means Brexit. What we need to do is bring those two sides together, bring Leave and Remain together, and bring the country together,” she argued.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s successor will be announced on Sept. 9.
May called on Conservative Party members who voted for Leave not to look for a “Brexit prime minister” but one who can “govern for the whole of the country.”
Regarding her Brexit agenda, May argued that Article 50 – formally beginning Britain’s EU withdrawal – should not be invoked before the end of the year and warned that early general elections could be "another destabilizing factor" for the economy.
According to an ICM poll for The Sun on Sunday, 60 percent of Tory members support May in the leadership contest, trailed by Justice Secretary Michael Gove with 10 percent.
Appearing on the BBC, Gove defended his decision to turn on his Leave campaign ally, former London Mayor Boris Johnson, to purse the Tory helm, saying:
“I withdrew my personal support for Boris, but he could have gone on. The fact that he didn’t, is telling. My judgement about what is right for this country will always guide me.”
Gove also insisted that the next Tory leader and prime minister should be someone who argued for the UK to leave the European Union.
In addition to May and Gove, other leadership contenders include Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom and former Defense Secretary Liam Fox -- both prominent Brexit supporters -- and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, who supported staying in the EU.
