First Casualty: David Cameron
British PM David Cameron became one of the first known casualties of the Brexit vote as, in the morning of June 24, he informed the Queen and the public of his intention to stand down as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He will remain in place, however, until the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on October 2-5, 2016, where his successor is likely to be announced.
The date of the Brexit referendum was announced by Cameron in February 2016 following a lengthy process of renegotiation with the EU. In the course of the renegotiation, David Cameron secured for the UK certain exceptions and limitations concerning in-work benefits for EU immigrants and overseas child benefit payments. These were to be added to the numerous opt-outs already in place for the UK . He was also reassured by the European Commission that the UK would not be required to participate in an “ever closer union”.
Cameron’s resignation came despite a letter signed by more than 80 Eurosceptic Conservative MPs and Cabinet ministers requesting him to stay.
The letter, which was delivered to the PM as the polls closed on June 23, stated that
We who are supporters of Vote Leave and members of the Conservative Party thank you for giving the British people a choice of their destiny on 23 June.
We believe that whatever the British people decide you have both a mandate and a duty to continue leading the nation implementing our 2015 manifesto.
Sources:
The Guardian: David Cameron resigns after UK votes to leave European Union (June 24, 2016)
The Telegraph: Eurosceptic Tory MPs and ministers sign letter urging David Cameron to continue as Prime Minister (June 24, 2016)
Cover photo of David Cameron by Harry Metcalfe – originally posted to Flickr as David Cameron, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11930007
