[Jake-UK]

There's a lot of talk about who will succeed David Cameron as the next tory leader and Prime Minister. Obviously, the stand out candidate is Boris Johnson, however Theresa May is more popular with the public, according to a recent poll:

Who would be best for the country and the party? Who would be a unity candidate? Personally, I would like Boris Johnson, but I wouldn't be too disappointed with Gove or May.

At one time, it seemed as though George Osborne was the obvious heir to Downing Street, but he has ruled himself out.

And does the next leader need to be someone who supports Brexit? A lot of people are suggesting that it doesn't matter whether he/she supports Brexit, but I would trust someone who wants us to leave to lead the negotiations more.

[layman]

Boris is far more pro migrant than May which is interesting. All the people who voted to leave want boris because he lead the charge but May is the one who actually might deliver lower migration.

Also, she has much more support from the Tory core who want to punish boris for being a back stabbing opportunist.

Hard to say who will win but I think May might just snatch it. Another Irony might be that she will finder it harder to fudge the result than boris would. This is because she will be under more suspicion due to being on the leave side in the first place.

Strange times indeed.

[anasawad]

The best one is a guy who knows how to beg.
So he can repair everything and lead the movement to fix it with the EU and stay in.

Because if someone who will push the UK away from the EU got elected.
You can kiss the UK good bye.

[Heisenberg]

It's hilarious that anyone is even discussing Jeremy Hunt as a possible option.

I think it'll be Theresa May. She may be an authoritarian creep, but she is at least more substantial than Boris Johnson. I sincerely hope that it is not George Osborne, and that the referendum kills his political career as it did David Cameron's. I cannot stand the man, and it amazes me that he has the reputation he does.

[Cromwell]

I think Michael Gove would struggle to win a general election; he's lacking in looks and charisma, and his work in education has been too divisive.

Boris Johnson would play much better to the wider electorate, as he's proved in his role as Mayor of London. However, I don't think he'll make it to the ballot, because it sounds as though the knives are out for him (compare Michael Heseltine).

There's a buzz around Andrea Leadsom, who's perceived as having done well during the campaign, but I don't how she'd handle an executive position.

Theresa May has played her cards well, largely keeping out of the refferendum debate, and she's popular within the party, but, as with Gove, I don't think she could manage to win a general up against a competent Labour leader (whether Labour will have such a figure come election time, remains to be seen).

A dark horse is Priti Patel, Norman Tebbit has spoken well of her, and she has a great personal image. However, her policies are likely to be far too extreme for the membership, let alone the general public.

I sincerely hope that it is not George Osborne, and that the referendum kills his political career as it did David Cameron's. I cannot stand the man, and it amazes me that he has the reputation he does.

Osborne has already ruled himself out.

[Heisenberg]

Osborne has already ruled himself out.

Oh, come on. He's a politician. I won't believe it until he buggers off to his yacht with Peter Mandelson, where he belongs.

[Seeker8]

Really hoping for Johnstone for the sake of Scottish independence.

[Jake-UK]

http://news.sky.com/story/1719331/goves ... p-concerns

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/art ... Boris.html

Still can't see anything but a Johnson victory. He is very popular with the party's members.

[ThirdTerm]

Triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and negotiating with the EU is a thankless task, which is why Cameron resigned without overseeing the process to leave the EU as he had promised. It was Boris Johnson who led the Leave campaign in the EU referendum, while Theresa May supported Remain, and I don't know how she could handle Brexit. Boris Johnson said that he's reluctant to become the next prime minister immediately after the referendum and Theresa May may do the job. May is leading Johnson among party members because there would be less need to hold a general election.

[layman]

Boris is the candidate for a general election though. He is quite popular with the public.

May is the character for hard nosed negotiations.

Just another angle of what a pigs ear (excuse the pun) Cameron has made of this. The dumb blonde who made the mess doesn't want to do the hard work of cleaning up.

[Atlantis]

Ironically, Johnson may be the only person to avert Brexit because people think that he doesn't himself believe in what he says. So he can backtrack on everything he said before. And who would be angry with him, when he puts on that boyish idiotic smile?

There is higher justice in having the greatest liar nominated as the unelected leader of the UK.

[layman]

@Atlantis ,

You know all that anti-EU journalism you complained about for years coming from the UK?

He was part of that. http://indy100.independent.co.uk/articl ... bkoHJPBuVZ

Johnson, sacked by The Times in 1988 for fabricating a quote, made his mark in Brussels not through fair and balanced reporting, but through extreme euro-scepticism. He seized every chance to mock or denigrate the EU, filing stories that were undoubtedly colourful but also grotesquely exaggerated or completely untrue.

The Telegraph loved it. So did the Tory Right. Johnson later confessed: 'Everything I wrote from Brussels, I found was sort of chucking these rocks over the garden wall and I listened to this amazing crash from the greenhouse next door over in England as everything I wrote from Brussels was having this amazing, explosive effect on the Tory party, and it really gave me this I suppose rather weird sense of power.'

Though I agree it is pretty unclear what the fuck he plans to do now. I actually thought he might shun the job because it is lose-lose for him. There is no way he can look good now as 48% of the public and 85% of mp's hate him. On top of this he has to dissapoint the 52%. He really cant win.

[layman]

Just in - grove is standing http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36671336

This is a suprise. He was about to support boris but has likely decided that boris cant be trusted or is not good enough.

The implication of this is surely that boris cannot win now. The implication of that is that May will win.

[Jake-UK]

My prediction yesterday that Boris would still win has unravelled very quickly. Now, it seems like it is May's to lose. She did give a very good speech today, in which she mocked Boris Johnson a few times. Inadvertently, Gove seems to have ruined the chances of having a Brexit-supporting prime minister.

[Kaiserschmarrn]

Here are parts of Theresa May's speech when she announced that she would run:

[youtube]sUxjSTFYoZM[/youtube]

Britain would do well with more of this kind of leadership right now.

[layman]

Boris out of the race

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-36570120

Wrong man for these times.

[Potemkin]

Wrong man for these times.

Wrong man for any times. Lol.

[Jake-UK]

Now that Boris is out of the running, I don't have a preference. I liked Theresa May's speech today, but I still think I would rather a brexit prime minister; Gove, perhaps, or Andrea Leadsom.

My prediction is May will win though.

[Atlantis]

You know all that anti-EU journalism you complained about for years coming from the UK?

He was part of that. http://indy100.independent.co.uk/articl ... bkoHJPBuVZ

I wouldn't give too much credence to that. People who know him have said that he does have pro-EU views. But you know how it is with journalists, they have to create a sensationalist story to sell copy. That is their bred and butter. The Bullingdon boys pride themselves on being able to argue any cause and its opposite. So yes, if he thought the public wanted some EU-bashing, he would deliver EU-bashing. Does the man have any conviction other than wanting power?

There was a Guardian opinion piece a couple of days ago about Gove and Johnson and about how these journalist/politicians are the worst politicians imaginable.

[Thompson_NCL]

The Guardian is the worst media imaginable though, so they are in good company.