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Next Prime Minister

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Butts

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As David Cameron's tenure comes to an end who will replace him ?

I would like The Right Honourable Kenneth Clarke QC, MP but I appreciate there is not much chance of that happening. Cigar smoking hush puppy wearing europhiles in disheveled suits are not in vogue. (mores the pity)

I wonder if someone will appear out of the backwoods like Cameron did.
 
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Domh245

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Boris seems to be the front runner. You'd have to say that Teresa May might fancy her chances, despite being a remainer. Gove might put his hat in, but I doubt he'd make it to the final ballot. Perhaps Rees-Mogg might be worth a punt as an outsider?
 

Butts

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Boris seems to be the front runner. You'd have to say that Teresa May might fancy her chances, despite being a remainer. Gove might put his hat in, but I doubt he'd make it to the final ballot. Perhaps Rees-Mogg might be worth a punt as an outsider?

Rees-Mogg is a crack up, would his nanny come with him ?

What about Ruth Davidson ? -not sure it would be constitutionally possible.
 
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Howardh

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Rees-Mogg is a crack up, would his nanny come with him ?

What about Ruth Davidson ? -not sure it would be constitutionally possible.

She's be the only Tory PM I would vote for now (and I'm a centre-right leaning voter).
Too soon though, unless there's a quick by-election between now and the conference.
Might be wrong - doesn't Sturgeon lead the SNP but she's not in Parliament?
 

pemma

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Might be wrong - doesn't Sturgeon lead the SNP but she's not in Parliament?

The SNP, UKIP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party all have MPs in Westminster but their leader is not a MP in Westminster. There may even be more smaller parties where that's true.

However, I very much doubt a party as big as either Labour or the Conservatives would pick a non-MP leader.
 

Domh245

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She's be the only Tory PM I would vote for now (and I'm a centre-right leaning voter).
Too soon though, unless there's a quick by-election between now and the conference.
Might be wrong - doesn't Sturgeon lead the SNP but she's not in Parliament?

You are correct that Sturgeon leads the SNP despite not being in Parliament, however, she is FM of Scotland, which is perhaps a more suitable role for the leader of a Scottish party.

As for Ruth Davidson, she said on the referendum coverage that she had no intentions of leaving Scottish Conservatives to become the main Conservative leader, which is a shame.
 

pemma

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Gove might put his hat in, but I doubt he'd make it to the final ballot.

If a general election was to be called I'm sure supporters of all the other parties would like Gove to be the Conservative PM, as he would be less popular than other Conservatives with the general public, so it could help get the Conservatives out. However, if the intention was for Gove to be PM until 2020 I doubt there would be as much support for him.
 

Butts

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What about Nick Clegg although not a Tory he would make a good Prime Minister in my view.
 

pemma

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What about Nick Clegg although not a Tory he would make a good Prime Minister in my view.

In the unlikely event of the Lib Dems replicating the success of the Liberal party in Canada (who went from being well behind the second biggest party to being the ruling party at the last election) it would be the current leader Tim Farron who would be the PM.

Although, I do think Clegg gets unfairly remembered for which manifesto claims the Lib Dems couldn't implement in Coalition, opposed to the ones which they did despite there being a lot less Lib Dems than Conservatives.
 

deltic

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What about Nick Clegg although not a Tory he would make a good Prime Minister in my view.

Given he can speak 6? European languages he would be the ideal person to negotiate with Europe! I always thought it was a shame he wasnt Foreign Secretary rather than deputy PM - the shock it would have caused, a British minister actually being able to converse in at least most Europeans own language.

While Boris appears the popular public choice not sure he would get support from Tory MPs. John Major become PM because he spent a lot of time cultivating back bench MPs in the tea rooms etc. Boris has spent little time in the Commons - appears to be a bit of a loner and half the MPs were pro-remain and probably hate him. MPs who knife their leaders dont go down well.

Nicky Morgan and Philip Hammond would be my uninformed guess as the two candidates who go out to the party vote - who the old buffers who are actually tory party members would vote for is anyone's guess - probably Hammond
 

Howardh

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I suppose Boris would be the right choice so he can be burdened with the negotiations, and take all the flack when we get clobbered. What do we sell to the EU that can't come from other countries, other than Bury Black Puddings and Melton Mowbray Pies?

Q Who would get a better deal from the EU, an europhile or euroseptic?
 

pemma

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Given he can speak 6? European languages he would be the ideal person to negotiate with Europe! I always thought it was a shame he wasnt Foreign Secretary rather than deputy PM - the shock it would have caused, a British minister actually being able to converse in at least most Europeans own language.

I always thought Cameron should have offered Osborne the deputy PM role and Cable to Chancellor role and found another role for Clegg. Having Osborne as Chancellor and Clegg as deputy PM was really for the Conservative's PR, at the same time as making Clegg thinking he'd been given a really good role in the coalition.
 

Butts

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What about The Home Secretary a certain Teresa May good PR with a female PM she must be in with a shout.

William Hague was one of the Tories outstanding MP's who would be up to the job but he bailed out at the last Election.
 

Domh245

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What about The Home Secretary a certain Teresa May good PR with a female PM she must be in with a shout.

William Hague was one of the Tories outstanding MP's who would be up to the job but he bailed out at the last Election.

May has caused a problem for herself by being a remainer, and won't garner any support from the pro-Brexit sides of the party.

Hague already had a stint at leader of the conservatives which ended with IDS as the new leader.
 

Butts

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I always thought Cameron should have offered Osborne the deputy PM role and Cable to Chancellor role and found another role for Clegg. Having Osborne as Chancellor and Clegg as deputy PM was really for the Conservative's PR, at the same time as making Clegg thinking he'd been given a really good role in the coalition.

Clegg is an "Orange Book" Liberal Democrat - there really needs to be a realignment to find a home for the moderate left/right centre in one party. There are Labour, Liberal and Conservatives who fall into this category and have much in common.
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May has caused a problem for herself by being a remainer, and won't garner any support from the pro-Brexit sides of the party.

Hague already had a stint at leader of the conservatives which ended with IDS as the new leader.

Yes but that came to soon, he matured into one of the finest Parliamentarians in the Commons.
 

backontrack

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What about Liz Truss? Not really being in the referendum discussion will have helped her a bit - plus being female. And she's a member of the cabinet, though many people (myself included) absolutely loath her..
 

Howardh

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Eshter McVey. Please Eshter McVey!! (Oh, she's NOT in parliament...boooo)

But Hague's a good call, not sure if he's in or out, but either way, man for the job. I know he's been leader before, not a problem in my eyes.
 

NoMorePacers

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He's positively useless. I didn't think that until yesterday, on the news. He mumbled. Not a strong leader. One of us could do better than him.
 

backontrack

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He's positively useless. I didn't think that until yesterday, on the news. He mumbled. Not a strong leader. One of us could do better than him.

Well, it's not democratic for people to turn against him now. We voted for him, so we're stuck with him. The MPs attacking him have no right to go against the will of the British people.

Besides, have you seen him at PMQs? He's actually OK.
 

Domh245

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Well, it's not democratic for people to turn against him now. We voted for him, so we're stuck with him. The MPs attacking him have no right to go against the will of the British people.

By "we" you mean "Labour Members". The MPs arguably have more right to attack the leader, as they are the "true" voice of the British people, going against the .6% of the public who are labour members.

Besides, have you seen him at PMQs? He's actually OK.

He's different. Whether or not he is OK depends on the criteria you use to judge the performances by.
 

jon0844

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I think Boris will have to come in to take things forward, even though he's not really ruled out staying in - on the basis that if we negotiate and get more concessions, we might change our mind. Goodness knows what the leave voters would say about that though!

Boris has already said he's in no rush, which the EU is NOT happy about. It wants things to start today, not next year or maybe even longer. Again, some voters probably thought we actually left yesterday!

As for suggesting people who are in other parties, that's a bit silly as I doubt Cameron will call another election. So it will be up to the Tories to decide, and we the public will have nothing to say beyond ranting on social media.
 

phoenixcronin

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Wouldn't it be hard for someone who slagged off the EU so much like Boris (albeit very opportunistically I think) to go back to the table and try to get a deal?
 

Groningen

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Hope that the UK comes up with a better choice than Hillary or Trump in the USA.
 

DelayRepay

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Depending on what happens with the devolved governments, the next Prime Minister could have the dubious honour of being the last ever Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Given the absolute disaster our country is facing, we need someone with the stature of Churchill to steer us through the upcoming storms. I am not sure any of the current contenders are up to the job.
 

jon0844

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Wouldn't it be hard for someone who slagged off the EU so much like Boris (albeit very opportunistically I think) to go back to the table and try to get a deal?

I think everyone in politics knows it's very much a game. It was clear how much Boris went against everything he appeared to believe in (from earlier interviews) so surely people realised it was just him doing what he had to do to get power?

Selling out to get power or fame isn't unique to politicians either.

The EU will have to play tough, but like any other diplomatic situation, what is said in public may differ a lot to behind closed doors.
 

cf111

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There's a reason Boris signed the letter begging Cameron to stay regardless of the outcome - he doesn't want to be Prime Minister yet. I think he realises how difficult the negotiations with the EU are going to be and he knows that what he presents to the public at the end of them will be much removed from what many who voted "Leave" expected - for example I expect there will still be free movement of people.
 

jon0844

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But Cameron won't want a part of it.

So, it's going to be a total clusterf**k.
 

Howardh

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There's a reason Boris signed the letter begging Cameron to stay regardless of the outcome - he doesn't want to be Prime Minister yet. I think he realises how difficult the negotiations with the EU are going to be and he knows that what he presents to the public at the end of them will be much removed from what many who voted "Leave" expected - for example I expect there will still be free movement of people.

Yes, it very much looks like he didn't want to do the dirty work. Well, Boris, it's all gone a bit Pete Tong, hasn't it? Put your name forward, go battle for the UK...sorry, your skin, and if the result is anything less than 100% in our favour, you know where the pier ends....

(What happens if NO-ONE, either in industry or Parliament WANT'S to negotiate? Can Antman go in there for us??)
 
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