UK Conservatives Likely To Pick Strong Euroskeptic To Replace May - Senior Party Member

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UK Conservatives Likely to Pick Strong Euroskeptic to Replace May - Senior Party Member

The UK Conservative Party is likely to choose the most euroskeptic of the candidates for the party leadership after Theresa May's resignation, Peter Lilley, a Conservative member of the UK parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, told Sputnik on Friday

GENOA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The UK Conservative Party is likely to choose the most euroskeptic of the candidates for the party leadership after Theresa May's resignation, Peter Lilley, a Conservative member of the UK parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, told Sputnik on Friday.

May said earlier in the day that she would step down as the leader of the Conservative Party on June 7. The prime minister said she regretted that she had not been able to deliver Brexit.

"Boris [Johnson] is the favourite � but in the last four Conservative leadership elections the candidate who was favourite at the start did not win! There will be a large field of other candidates. Once the [members of parliament] MPs have narrowed the choice to two, the Party members will choose the more Eurosceptic of the two (unless he or she implodes!)," Lilley, who used to be a cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major and a deputy leader of the Conservative Party, told Sputnik.

Johnson resigned from May's government, where he served as foreign secretary, in July last year over his disagreement with her Brexit vision.

Prior to the 2016 Brexit referendum Johnson campaigned for Brexit, whereas May voted for the United Kingdom to remain part of the European Union.

Earlier this week, May proposed a new Brexit plan, following three rejections of the withdrawal agreement by the UK parliament. However, her own cabinet was reportedly unhappy with the latest version.

The United Kingdom was unable to leave the European Union on March 29, as originally intended, because the withdrawal deal had been voted down by the UK lawmakers. The European Council gave the United Kingdom an extension until October 31, with an option to leave earlier if the UK parliament passes the deal.