Rebirth of England

Chapter 1015 Finale ③: Female Prime Minister (Part 1)

On June 23, 2016, the UK started the Brexit referendum.

On February 20 of this year, Cameron announced that the referendum date would be set today.

On this day, people across the UK will choose "yes or no" in the ballot on "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?"

It can be said that the vote on this day will determine the fate of Britain for a long time to come.

On June 24, after a busy vote counting work, at Manchester City Hall, Chief Counting Officer Jenny Watson officially announced the national vote count results of the referendum.

According to statistics, a total of 33,578,016 votes were received in this Brexit referendum, accounting for 72.2% of the eligible voters in the UK. The voter turnout rate of more than 70% shows that this Brexit referendum attracted the participation of most citizens.

In the end, the number of votes supporting Brexit was 17,275,889, accounting for 51.45% of the total votes; the number of votes supporting Remain was 16,302,127, accounting for 48.55% of the total votes...

So in this Brexit referendum, the people who supported Brexit won by a narrow margin!

After the results of the Brexit referendum were announced, Cameron gave a speech in front of 10 Downing Street, announcing his resignation as prime minister.

He said that although he supported Remain, the British people chose another path, so they needed a new prime minister.

Although he appeared calm and composed in his resignation statement, Cameron was actually hit hard in his heart - many years later, he admitted in his memoirs that the referendum result was a huge blow to him, and he fell into "extreme depression and frustration", and he knew very well in his heart that "some people will never forgive me".

A staff member close to Cameron later revealed to the media that the Duke of Devonshire, who was very close to Cameron at the time, had warned him very early that Brexit would cause a severe blow to the British economy.

Cameron himself is a representative of the Remain camp. He initiated the Brexit referendum to quell the controversy within the party about the EU and believed that the British people would choose to stay in the EU.

However, the referendum result was beyond his expectations. 51.45% of voters chose to leave the EU - this result made his political position embarrassing and difficult to continue to lead the country.

Similarly, the Brexit referendum result brought huge political and economic uncertainties, and Cameron also found it difficult to cope with the subsequent Brexit negotiations and national integration tasks - there are reports that he was unwilling to deal with the complex issues involved in Brexit, so he chose to resign.

Of course, the most important reason is that Cameron felt that he was personally responsible for the referendum result because he was the leader of the Remain camp - after the referendum failed, he believed that he was not qualified to continue to lead the country, so he chose to resign to show his responsibility.

In addition, the result of this Brexit referendum also hit the British stock market hard.

Back to the morning of June 24, when Barron's motorcade arrived at the DS Financial Center, Daisy, who was beside him, looked at Barron before getting off the car:

"Will today's result be as you expected?"

"Although I don't hope so, it's a pity..."

After kissing Barron on the face, Daisy said:

"Then I'm ready to fight. I've been ready for so long."

Watching the woman get off the car and walk towards the building in high spirits, Barron smiled and wiped off the lipstick marks on his face...

Just after the results of the Brexit referendum were announced, the FTSE 100 index futures in the UK plummeted by more than 15%, and the FTSE 350 index also plummeted by more than 13.5%!

And in the next few days, the decline continued, and the British stock market ushered in a bloody storm.

In addition to the British stock market, because the result of the Brexit referendum will directly affect the relationship between Britain and the European Union, its results have also triggered violent fluctuations in global stock markets.

German DAX index futures fell by 9% in response.

At the same time, the rising risk aversion sentiment led global investors to flock to safe assets, the yen soared, Japan's Nikkei index plummeted 7%, and triggered the circuit breaker mechanism.

Asia-Pacific stock markets were not spared, China Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 5.7%, South Korea Composite Index fell more than 4%, Taiwan Province Weighted Index and Singapore Straits Times Index both fell more than 2%.

China A-share market was also affected by the external market. The Shanghai Composite Index took a sharp turn in the afternoon, falling 2.9% to 2807.6, the largest drop since May 30, 2016. The CSI 300 Index fell 2.5%, and the ChiNext Index fell 3.4%.

In addition, the results of the Brexit referendum in the UK also had a major impact on the exchange rate market.

After the Brexit referendum results were announced, the pound sterling fell sharply against the US dollar, hitting its lowest level in decades, and the euro was also affected.

The sharp fluctuations in exchange rates have had a significant impact on international trade and cross-border investment-investors need to face exchange rate risks and adjust the strategies and expectations of related businesses.

Citigroup has warned that if Britain leaves the EU, it may cause the pound and the euro to fall and the dollar to strengthen.

In response, Federal Reserve Chairman Yellen said that the UK's Brexit referendum may have a significant economic impact, and financial markets may fluctuate for a period of time, which will have a negative impact on financial conditions and the US economic outlook.

In addition, Britain's Brexit may also cause more EU countries to consider the possibility of leaving the EU, which means that the EU has the opportunity to face a state of disintegration, which will have a lasting negative impact on the market.

…

After Cameron announced his resignation, the first task of the Conservative Party is to elect a new party leader to succeed Cameron and assume the responsibility of prime minister.

From this time on, competition within the Conservative Party began for the party leader.

The Conservative leadership race is divided into two phases.

The first phase of the campaign will start on July 5 and will select among the current five candidates who intend to run.

Candidates include former Foreign Secretary Joe Harriman, former Home Secretary Theresa May, former Energy Secretary Andrea Leadson, former Defense Secretary Liam Fox and others.

This stage of selection will involve three rounds of voting among Conservative MPs. The candidate with the fewest votes in each round will be disqualified from continuing to run.

But what’s interesting is that this time around, the three most vocal candidates in the Conservative Party leadership race are Joe Harriman, Theresa May and Andrea Lidson – all of whom are women.

(Pictured above: Joe Harriman, Theresa May, Andrea Lidson)

This also means that there is a high probability that Britain will have its second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher.

Sure enough, in the subsequent two rounds of selection on July 5 and 6, two candidates withdrew from the competition.

The remaining three candidates are Joe Harriman, Theresa May and Andrea Lidson.

This means that no matter who among the three wins the final victory, it is a foregone conclusion that there will be a second British female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher.

Interestingly, among the three female candidates currently in the selection process, in order of pro-European to eurosceptic tendencies, they are Joe Harriman, Theresa May and Andrea Lidson.

Both Joe Harriman and Theresa May initially supported the failed Remain movement promoted by current Prime Minister David Cameron, but Joe Harriman's attitude was more determined - although due to the growing public suspicion later Joe Harriman has started to keep a low profile on relevant statements, but he has also been emphasizing the serious consequences of Brexit.

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Before the Brexit referendum, Theresa May's attitude changed subtly. She no longer talked about the negative impact of Brexit, but began to talk more about Britain's options for leaving the EU. "It is not unacceptable, and it will be There are certain benefits”…

As for Andrea Lidson, she has always been an active Eurosceptic and supports Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

In the third round of selection on July 7, it was determined that Joe Harriman and Theresa May entered the final competition, while Andrea Lidson was eliminated.

Joe Harriman finally defeated Theresa May in a vote held by 150,000 Conservative Party members on July 11 and was confirmed as the leader of the Conservative Party.

Next, Cameron issued a statement outside No. 10 Downing Street later on the 11th, announcing that he would resign as prime minister on the 13th.

After making the statement, Cameron walked directly to the gate of No. 10 Downing Street without taking off the small microphone on his collar.

At this time, a voice came from the microphone. Cameron was humming a ditty in a low voice. The tune sounded very cheerful.

After the door closed, Cameron's voice came from the microphone: "Okay."

Then, he took off the microphone.

Some media believed that judging from the cheerful tunes Cameron sang, he was very happy to leave No. 10 Downing Street to escape the chaos caused by "Brexit".

On July 13, Cameron attended the Prime Minister's Question and Answer session for the last time in Parliament at noon that day, and went to Buckingham Palace in the afternoon to submit his resignation to the Queen.

After the Queen agreed to his resignation, Joe Harriman drove to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen.

At this time, Joe Harriman had cut his hair into short hair, making him look neater and more capable.

When she entered the drawing room, the Queen looked at Joe Harriman and lost her composure for a moment.

After all, from her perspective at the time, it seemed that the person who had just stepped here was her former daughter-in-law, Diana.

It's just that the queen was distracted for a moment. She soon realized that it was just her illusion, so her face showed that familiar kind smile...

At this point, Joe Harriman has officially become the new Prime Minister of England with the Queen's Royal Assent.

She is the second female Prime Minister in British history after Margaret Thatcher.

At the same time, at just 36 years old, she broke Cameron's record (43 years old) and became the youngest British Prime Minister in more than 200 years.

It is worth mentioning that in the entire British history, the only person who was younger than Joe Harriman when he became Prime Minister was William Pitt Jr. He was appointed Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24.

Interestingly, the ancestor of the Devonshire family, William Cavendish, was also elected Prime Minister of England in 1756 at the age of 36.

However, because it was not long before Joe Harriman's 36th birthday, she became the second youngest Prime Minister in British history by a narrow margin.

Subsequently, Joe Harriman and her partner, supermodel Rosie Huntington, came to the Prime Minister's Office at No. 10 Downing Street and delivered a speech at the door of the Prime Minister's Office.

In his speech, Joe Harriman promised to be committed to solving various injustices in British society, developing the British economy, and providing more jobs and security for the people.

Regarding the Brexit referendum, Joe Harriman said:

“After the Brexit referendum, we have learned the choice of the British people. I will respect everyone's wishes and lead the government to deal with the challenges brought about by this matter... But it should be understood that Brexit is a complicated matter. We need to use Article 50 of the Lisbon Agreement cautiously before we find the best solution..."