Cameron to resign by Oct
British politics was upended yesterday by a shock vote to leave the EU which forced Prime Minister David Cameron to resign, triggered a leadership race and raised doubts the country could survive in its current form.
Announcing his resignation outside Downing Street, Cameron said a new leader should be in place by October.
His successor faces an uphill struggle to heal divisions in both the country and the ruling Conservative party and could face pressure to call a new general election, even though it is just a year since Cameron won the last one.
There were already signs that pro-EU Scotland could move to hold a fresh independence referendum, as well as fears that stability in Northern Ireland could be threatened by the move.
Cameron promised to try to "steady the ship" over the next months.
"I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination," the British leader said outside his Downing Street residence in London.
He said his successor should trigger the formal process for Britain to leave the European Union.
Flanked by his wife Samantha, Cameron said he had fought to retain Britain's membership of the EU "head, heart and soul -- I held nothing back".
But he added: "The British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and as such, I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction."
Cameron called the referendum to attempt to solve party infighting and see off the threat of the Eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party.
It was a move that backfired spectacularly and led to the his dramatic announcement exit after Brexit-- an era-defining moment that will no doubt lead to him being remembered for generations to come as the man who took the country out of the European Union.
It's a huge blow to Cameron, who led the Conservative Party to victory in the 2015 general election and saw off the threat of Scottish independence a year before that.
Cameron had been regarded as a lucky politician by some of his closest colleagues but that luck ran out as the "Leave" campaign won 51.9% of the vote to win by 1,269.501 votes, with turnout at 72%.
The main opposition Labour party was not immune from the turmoil, either.
Its leader, veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn, had campaigned reluctantly to keep Britain in the EU.
An MP has tabled a motion of no confidence in him following the result after many traditional Labour areas backed Brexit.
"The ramifications leave one giddy," wrote political commentator Matthew d'Ancona in The Guardian.
"Yes, this will have immense consequences for the Westminster drama: not only for David Cameron, who bet the farm and lost; but also for Jeremy Corbyn who conspicuously failed to deliver the Labour heartlands," he said.
"But the high political soap opera is belittled by the constitutional and economic implications."
Anand Menon, director of the UK In A Changing Europe academic research group, added: "Nationalist politicians, be they in Scotland, Northern Ireland or England, will be making hay."
Favourite to succeed Cameron is Boris Johnson, the leading Brexiteer and former London mayor.
Other contenders seen as closer to Cameron could include Home Secretary Theresa May and finance minister George Osborne.
Once the leading contender to succeed Cameron, Osborne's hopes may have been damaged by his closeness to the premier and his botched handling of two austerity budgets.
Whoever wins will face having to unite a party which has experienced bitter divisions during a referendum campaign which has pitched Conservative against Conservative.
They will also inherit Cameron's small House of Commons majority of 16, making it tough to pass any controversial new laws.
Corbyn, who won the Labour leadership last year thanks to grassroots support, much of it from young voters, is deeply unpopular with many MPs.
The constitutional consequences of the vote could run deeper.
Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party has long indicated that a Brexit vote could provide momentum for a second referendum after independence was rejected in a previous vote in 2014.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday said that Scotland sees its future as "part of the EU", fuelling speculation.
"As things stand, Scotland faces the prospect of being taken out of the EU against her will. I regard that as democratically unacceptable," Sturgeon told a news conference in Edinburgh.
"I think an independence referendum is now highly likely."
In Northern Ireland, which backed EU membership, there are fears that tensions could be raised following years of calm in sectarian conflict if a hard border with EU member state Ireland is restored.
Republicans Sinn Fein have already called for a vote on uniting Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland after the Brexit vote.
"What the government is now faced with is not only the economic consequences of a break with the EU, but a fracturing of the United Kingdom," said Rodney Barker, emeritus professor of government at the London School of Economics.
"The government has avoided, once again, taking the blame for the erosion of public services, but at the cost of the unity of its party and its country."
Admitting the losses in Labour heartlands, Corbyn made the same point about an anti-austerity vote.
"A lot of the message that has come back from this is that many communities are fed up with cuts," he said.
Comments