British Prime Minister Theresa May could agree to a peerage and sit in the UK House of Lords after her resignation, which is scheduled for June, the Daily Express cited unnamed sources in Parliament as saying.
“I could see Theresa accepting a peerage. She is a very traditional type of Conservative. The House of Lords would suit her,” a Tory MP claimed.
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Another official argued, “it would not surprise me at all if she went to the Lords; she is hardly likely to go on a world lecture tour like Tony Blair and David Cameron did.”
Richard Kellaway, the chairman of Maidenhead Conservative Association in May’s constituency, for his part, said that she had confirmed that “she will carry on as a Member of Parliament, which is welcomed (to do) by us”.
“As the Prime Minister, she could go to the House of Lords if she wants to go that route and carry on, or she could stay a Member of Parliament. Quite clearly, it’s a very troubling and difficult time for her and she’ll need to settle down and see what she wants to do,” Kellaway added.
The Daily Express noted in this regard that May could become the first former UK Prime Minister to take a House of Lords seat since Margaret Thatcher, given that John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron “all indicated in advance that they did not want the honour”.Convention stipulates that the UK's incoming Prime Ministers are allowed to grant their immediate predecessors a peerage.
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On 24 May, May announced that she will resign as the Conservative Party leader on 7 June, but that she will continue to be at the helm of the government until her successor is picked, a move that she said is “in the best interests of the country”.
The announcement was followed by UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt giving kudos to May, whom he claimed made “the country safer and more secure”.
Britain was initially slated to leave the EU on 29 March. Her government and Brussels had agreed on a withdrawal deal, but UK lawmakers refused to pass it, with the arrangement to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland being a major bone of contention for British MPs.
The Brexit deadline was subsequently moved to 31 October, with London obliged to participate in European Parliament elections if a deal was not passed by 23 May.