A NEW Prime Minister must seek to “heal division,” Maidenhead’s MP Theresa May said as Boris Johnson announces his resignation.
After an avalanche of resignations from Mr Johnson’s government, he finally announced he will be stepping down as leader of the Conservatives and as PM in October as a new leader is elected.
Boris’ resignation speech in front of No 10 Downing Street was made at 12:30pm today. During that time, Maidenhead MP and former-Prime Minister Theresa May gave a talk at the James Brokenshire lecture on public service.
When asked what she would like from the next Prime Minister, Mrs May said: “I would want somebody who wants to concentrate on healing division, who wants to unite the country and the [Conservative] party. I think this is so important going forward.
“I am concerned when I look at some other countries – the polarisation in the United States, for example. I think that we need to ensure that we avoid going through that very polarised route of politics and society.
“We need somebody to heal division and encourage unity is important and the key task for somebody coming in as Prime Minister is going to be dealing with the economic situation with the cost of living crisis.
“I think it’s important that somebody comes in who is willing to be honest with people with what the issues are and what the potential solutions are and how we might get to there and the difficulties that might be on the way.”
During Mr Johnson’s resignation speech, Mrs May said: “There comes a time as a leader when you have to recognise that trust no longer exists because faith in politics goes to the very top.”
She also said a few isolated instances of poor conduct has “rubbished” the reputation of politics and trust in politicians, citing the partygate scandal and changes to the MPs standards to protect former MP Owen Paterson as examples.
When asked if Mrs May would be caretaker PM, she laughed and believed a caretaker Prime Minister will not step into that role.
READ MORE: LIVE: Updates in Berkshire as Boris Johnson set to resign
Maidenhead’s MP was Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019 but resigned soon after surviving a no confidence vote – with Boris playing a major part in her removal following his resignation as foreign secretary over Brexit.
Mrs May has made no secret of her distaste of the current government. She refused to support the Rwanda asylum policy and panned the Mr Johnson’s bid to rewrite parts of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.
The Observer has contacted Mrs May for further comment.
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