David Cameron has resigned, bringing an abrupt end to his
six-year premiership, after the British public took the momentous decision to
reject his entreaties and turn their back on the European Union. Just a year after he clinched a surprise majority in the
general election, a visibly emotional Cameron, standing outside Number 10 on
Friday morning alongside his wife, Samantha, said: “The will of the British
people is an instruction that must be delivered.”
The prime minister campaigned hard in the divisive
referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU, appearing at hundreds of
public events up and down the country to argue that Brexit would be an act of
“economic self-harm”.
But a frustrated electorate used the poll to reject the
status quo and, as the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, described it, “stick two
fingers up” at Britain’s politicians.
“I was absolutely clear about my belief that Britain is
stronger, safer and better off inside the EU. I made clear the referendum was
about this, and this alone, not the future of any single politician, including
myself.
“But the British people made a different decision to take a
different path. As such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take
it in this direction,” Cameron said.
Nicola Sturgeon says second Scottish referendum 'highly
likely' – as it happened
Rolling coverage of David Cameron’s resignation and
Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, with results, analysis and
market reaction
The prime minister’s team were left shocked and distraught
by the narrow win for leave, with 52% of the vote, after polls had suggested a
move towards a comfortable margin for remain in the final few days of
campaigning.
In the statement announcing his intention to step down,
Cameron highlighted the key achievements of his premiership, including
rebuilding the economy after the financial crisis and legislating to allow gay
marriage.
The process of choosing his successor will now begin, with
Tory MPs selecting a two-person shortlist, which will then be presented to the
party’s members in the country to make a final decision.
Cameron called the referendum as a calculated gamble, aimed
at silencing the Eurosceptics in his own party for a generation.
Yet he had underestimated the backing Vote Leave would
receive on his own backbenches; and reckoned without the charismatic and
popular former mayor of London, Boris Johnson, becoming its figurehead.
Johnson, whose support among the Tory membership shot up
after he declared himself for out, is now widely seen as the most likely
successor to the prime minister.
The former mayor of London insisted on Friday there was “no
need for haste” in negotiating Britain’s exit. Speaking at Vote Leave’s
headquarters, Johnson struck a statesmanlike tone, paying tribute to Cameron’s
leadership. “This does not mean that the UK will be in any way less united; nor
indeed does it mean that it will be any less European,” he said.
David Cameron’s full resignation speech: ‘I’ll go before the
autumn’
Michael Gove, speaking alongside Johnson, said
representatives from all parts of Britain, and from different political
traditions, should be involved in the negotiations.
Cameron said it would be best for his successor to negotiate
the terms of Britain’s exit – and to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon treaty,
which begins the formal process of withdrawal, adding that he had already
discussed his intentions with the Queen.
The prime minister promised to stay on until the autumn, to
“steady the ship”; but suggested a new leader should be in place by the start
of the Conservative party’s conference in October.
Other leading Brexiters may fancy their chances against
Johnson, including Andrea Leadsom, Liam Fox, Priti Patel and Dominic Raab.
Michael Gove, the justice secretary, has always strongly
denied he wants the top job but has consistently polled well in surveys of
grassroots Conservatives in recent months.
Party modernisers are likely to rally around an alternative
candidate – perhaps Theresa May, Stephen Crabb or Nicky Morgan – in an effort
to stop Johnson and other leave campaigners, who tend to be on the right of the
party.
George Osborne’s chances of succeeding the prime minister
are effectively over after he fought so forcefully alongside Cameron to remain
in the EU.
The scale of anger about the chancellor’s role in the
campaign was laid bare when more than 60 Tory MP said they would refuse to back
the “Brexit budget” he said would be necessary if Britain voted to leave.
A narrow victory for remain early in the night for
Newcastle, which had been expected to reject Brexit by a stronger margin, set
the pattern for later results. There was a sharp divide across Britain, with
London and other major cities, and Scotland, voting to remain in the EU, while
smaller towns and more deprived economic areas backed Brexit.
Cameron and Osborne – who were both closely involved in
running the campaign – wheeled out an array of global policymakers and experts,
including the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, and the US
president, Barack Obama, to make the case that leaving the EU would inflict
severe economic damage.
But Gove caught the public mood when he said the public had
had enough of “experts”.
The London stock market plunged at the start of trading at
8am on Friday, as a wave of selling swept the City amid fears about the
economic consequences of Britain trying to survive outside the EU single
market.
The FTSE 100 plunged by 550 points at one
stage, a fall of 8.6%. But the blue-chip index then stabilised, and is
currently down 327 points, or 5.2%, at 6009 after Cameron’s statement.
The pound has clawed back from its worst lows, but is still
down 7.5% at $1.375 against the US dollar. It has lost 13 cents since the polls
closed on Thursday night, when opinion polls suggested a remain victory.
A Whitehall source said the first priority for Cameron’s
post-Brexit administration was to steady the financial markets by ensuring that
there would be a smooth transition to a new prime minister.
To that end, there has already been “contact” between
Downing Street with both Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the source said. David
Cameron is expected to arrange a meeting with both, which “will be awkward to
say the least”, within the next 48 hours.
Cameron’s statement was expected to be delivered at 7am but
it finally came after 8.15am, a quarter of an hour after the markets opened.
Labour will hold a shadow cabinet meeting on Friday morning to calibrate its
response.
