(Bloomberg) -- Theresa May took a clear lead in the race to succeed U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron after the first round of voting among Conservative Party lawmakers on Tuesday.
Theresa May
The home secretary won 165 votes, followed by Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom with 66 votes. Justice Secretary Michael Gove got 48, Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb 34 and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox 16. As the last-placed candidate, Fox is eliminated from the contest.
“Getting more than half is a real sign,” Damian Green, who is working on May's campaign, told reporters after the result was announced in the House of Commons. “Being a hundred votes ahead of the next candidate -- that's a very clear message from the parliamentary party.”
Andrea Leadsom
Although May's win puts her in a commanding position, it doesn't guarantee victory. Voting will continue on Thursday and then Tuesday, with the final-placed candidate eliminated after each round. The remaining two will be put to a vote by all Conservative Party members. Tory supporters tend to be Euro-skeptic and May backed staying in the European Union in last month's referendum, albeit reluctantly. Leadsom campaigned for Brexit.
‘Something Going On'
Chris Heaton-Harris, who is supporting Leadsom, said her 66 votes show that her candidacy has momentum. She was a surprise inclusion in the race when she declared that she would be running last week.
“On the weekend, when we were getting 30 people publicly declaring for Andrea, we could feel that there was something going on,” Heaton-Harris told reporters.
Dominic Raab, Gove's campaign manager, put a brave face on the result. The justice secretary torpedoed the campaign of former mayor of London Boris Johnson at the last minute last Thursday, withdrawing his support and declaring that he would stand in his place.
“Michael is the underdog in this race, fighting for the underdog in our society,” Raab said. “The more this race goes on, and the more people focus on what really matters, the more that will become clear.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Andrew Atkinson, Thomas Penny
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