(Bloomberg) -- The race to be Britain's next prime minister will narrow to two on Thursday with Home Secretary Theresa May and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom the favorites to face off in a battle to decide who leads exit negotiations with the European Union.
Justice Secretary Michael Gove is also running in the second-round ballot for the Conservative Party leadership. The result will be announced in London shortly after voting ends around 4 p.m. The two contenders with the most votes will then be put to the party's wider membership and the new leader will be declared by Sept. 9.
The vote could produce the U.K.'s first female premier since Margaret Thatcher and takes place against a backdrop of growing economic uncertainty. The winner inherits a country still reeling from a referendum where a majority voted to bow out of the 28-nation bloc. The pound sank to a 31-year low as the aftershocks ripple through other parts of the market. U.K. business confidence fell to a 4 1/2-year low in the days after the vote and at least seven firms have frozen withdrawals from property funds as investors tried to offload real estate holdings.
Two Women
Analysts will be scrutinizing the scale of May's expected victory, and whether Gove can sneak onto the final ballot. His campaign manager has urged May supporters to vote to block Leadsom, according to an e-mail seen by ITV News.
For now, it's the two women who came out on top, with 165 and 66 endorsements respectively in the first vote on Tuesday among Tory members of Parliament. Gove took 48. Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox was eliminated after coming last and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb dropped out. Both came out in support of May.
Leadsom is vying with Gove to be the authentic pro-Brexit candidate, aware that Tory supporters tend to be more Euro-skeptic than the general public. May sided with the ‘Remain' camp, although she kept a low profile in the campaign.
Gove Moves
Boris Johnson, a leading ‘Brexiteer' whose own stab at the leadership was torpedoed by Gove's backroom maneuvering, has thrown his weight behind Leadsom. Behind the scenes, there appeared to be yet more attempts to steal away votes. Gove's campaign manager, Nick Boles, said in the leaked e-mail he was "seriously frightened" about Leadsom making the final cut.
Leadsom, who has the support of just one of her former colleagues in her leadership bid, is set to give a speech on the economy Thursday after coming under attack for exaggerating her banking experience to bolster her credentials, a claim she denies.
Bookmaker William Hill Plc on Wednesday installed May as the front-runner to become premier, offering odds of 1-5, or one pound for every five bet. Leadsom is on 4-1, with Gove a 14-1 outsider.
To contact the reporters on this story: Joe Mayes in London at jmayes9@bloomberg.net, Charlotte Ryan in London at cryan147@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Brendan Scott, Andy Sharp
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