Teresa May or Andrea Leadsom?

[Toofondofcake]

So without starting anything too politically fraught I wonder if people would share with me who they prefer for conservative leadership out of the two.

The race is now down to them and so we will have a female PM again!

Opinions?

It's all a bit dull now that Boris is not around!

It's all a bit dull now that Boris is not around!

You do realise that a) this is not light entertainment and b) Boris will be bouncing around for the next 3 months in support of Leadsom, and we will all be sick of the sight of him.

Boris is good at the fun stuff. He's crap at the crisis stuff.
Where was he during the London Riots eh? His solution to that, in case it happened again? Water cannons that could never legally be used and have just been flogged.

Jesus weep. If the mark of a good politician is really about how funny they are ok, then Big Brother really does have a lot to a lot to answer for.

I'm starting to pine for Johnson. With hindsight, he was probably too lazy to do that much damage. Leadsome and her backers scare the crap out of me. In the words of Butch Cassidy, who are those guys?

I voted Leave and Id want Teresa May.

Far far more confidence in her actually delivering, understanding what shes delivering, and fighting for the UK's interests.
(Remain I know, but Cameron should not have resigned, hes paid to deliver the will of the people...not his own agenda)

I just cannot see Leadsom carrying any weight whatsoever in the Merkel, Junker court of Brussels, and tbh, she hasnt a diddly clue about the inner workings of the EU..... or US pressure.....

May will say no, based on the security and confidence of her own knowledge...
Leadsom, for me is the one who'll crumble.

Normally I would agree with that assessment but these are not normal times. Knowledge and understanding don't seem to count for much.

Chris, me too.

I voted Leave - Theresa May is my choice too.

I would reluctantly agree that May is the better choice in the short term, but she will annihilate the opposition and may prove a lot harder to oust in the long term.

How long do you give either of them? One term? Certainlyno more than one and a half..............

I would be surprised if anyone getting the role survives a full parliamentary term, but I think May would be more likely to make it to an early GE.

The more I read about Leadsom, the more disturbing I find her - she has a lot of appeal, all this "fresh approach" nonsense. But I can't see that she's qualified for the top job - this all seems to have come from her 'good' (which is debatable) performance in the Referendum TV debates.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if she got in, and then there was a re-run of the IDS de-throning. Which will cause even more chaos.

flo scary times indeed. Sensibility doesn't seem to count for much at all

Daily Mail is strongly backing May ( see the depths I go to in order to inform mumsnetters) and even the Torygraph is expressing a slight preference for her.
My concern is the length of time before the voting closes. As we know from the referendum, peoples decision making process can change based on a persuasive campaign and if Johnson throws more than a few positive comments behind Leadsom then who can tell.

Oh well if Leadsom gets in, she'll try to invoke A50 immediately which I don't think parliament will stand for, which I hope would bring down the whole thing (disclaimer - I'm not sure exactly what that means if the MPs vetoed imposing it immediately) .

It would be good if Labour could at least try to get their house in order just in case.

I'd give Leadsom about 6 months in office max.

I'm with you all on the 'devil and the deep blue sea'/'fallen down the rabbit hole'/'I never thought I'd ever say something like this' sentiments. Rocks and hard places indeed.

I'm saying Theresa May, but only in a lesser of two weevils kind of way. At least I THINK she's the lesser; I'm not really sure.

I hope those saying that whoever gets in won't last a full term are right.

Except... does that mean Johnson might then crawl back out of his hole?

May might be more likely to ask for a GE (but I don't think she will)
Leadsom is more likely to face a revolt and trigger a GE (and cause utter chaos and the break up of the Conservative Party)

May... In spite of the negatives I am not aware of her being a liar

From what I have seen over recent days Leadsom 's cv has been somewhat "embellished" so for that reason alone I would not want her

Not that I have a vote but....

I recently signed the e-petition to require that all politicians must be truthful and that deliberately lying or misleading should be made a criminal act....

Teresa for me too, much more experience and also a remainer, which might cause even more fractions in the Conservative party, trigger a spring GE and we can get them out for a few years at least. Might be wistful thinking but all this referendum is done is cause even more problems for the party that will not be resolved.

May. She's awful but Leadsom is waaaay more awful. I feel fearful at the thought of her being PM

I'm very interested in the contrasting theories about who will precipitate a GE and why (Red and The80s). I can't decide which one I find more compelling though.

Theresa May, because she is experienced in many fields of government, has gravitas, and has the authority to keep Gove and his chums in check.
Andrea Leadsom for Chancellor, financial experience a definite advantage.

Delighted we will have a woman in charge, in common with many other countries.

The idea that the Tory party will vote for Andrea Leadsom makes me feel physically sick. She has lied about her experience in finance. She has no experience in Cabinet. She has no experience in dealing with the mandarins in Brussels. She is not really a committed Brexiter. She has repulsive views on same sex marriage and fox hunting.
Even if she does have experience in finance, do we really trust bankers and financiers? She is actually a chancer and with her comes Boris Johnson another chancer and people like Teresa Villiers (the personification of Cruella de Ville). Have I made my views clear? I fear for this country.

Interestingly there is talk of some kind of progressive alliance between all the non Tory parties

Aye. And that's all it will be. Talk.

On the plus side, referring to the list an earlier poster made:

Thatcher: Hailed on becoming PM - left reviled by a large proportion of voters.
Major: Who ? Reviled by voters (I was there in 1992). Seen as one of our better PMs in hindsight.
Tony "how many illegal wars do you want with that ?" Blair: Came in as the new messaih - left ... well 'nuff said
Gordon Brown: Came in as a trusted and respected choice for PM (even by me !). Left with no great love lost.
Cameron: Came in, hailed as the face of a brave new politics. Leaves when we realise that was all bollocks.

The omens seem better when someone unpopular or unhailed becomes PM (low expectations ?) than when a popular choice gets in. So I am pinning my (wrested from my cold dead hands) grudging preference for T. May on that. Who knows, she may confound us yet .....

I don't know why people are hailing the fact that, whoever it is, it'll be a woman as some great success.

Lurking, my feeling is that May is talking tough now so as to out-tough Leadsom and woo the more -swivel-eyed-- rightwing Tories; but that, if appointed, she'll actually be more moderate.

I will be happy to be reminded of this somewhere down the line, though, if I'm proved miserably wrong.

May... In spite of the negatives I am not aware of her being a liar

She gave a rabble-rousing speech a while back, when she wanted to strip us all of any human rights we have, with the story about an asylum seeker who the courts stopped the UK from deporting

"because, and I'm not making this up, because he had a cat "

Only she had "made it up". Not the bit about the cat (that was true enough). But that it was the reason the courts ruled the way they did.

She was called out on it by Ken Clarke. But - like all spin - we only remember the headline, not the story.

The second anyone talks about human rights as something "deserved", I find my blood run cold.