Elizabeth Peacock: Theresa May is the leader we need

Like many other people, I was surprised to hear that Andrea Leadsom was pulling out of the race to be the next Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister. However, on reflection I do believe it was the right decision.

Having got the Conservative leadership process down to a short list of two we were heading for certainty, albeit in my view too slowly, with a party decision by early September.

This was much too slow with the vacuum that the Referendum result caused and this must now be filled with the minimum of delay.

By withdrawing from the race yesterday, Andrea has made the decision for us. I believe this decision is sensible and in the best interests of not only the Conservative Party, but more importantly the country.

I am sure that Andrea may well lead the party one day, but now is not the time. She, like other women at Westminster, is obviously talented but compared with Theresa May she is not experienced enough to carry the dual role of party leader and prime minister.

During the referendum campaign Andrea Leadsom made some impressive speeches alongside Boris Johnson, but since putting her name forward to be the next party leader one or two things have emerged that I would not expect from a future Prime Minister.

She has said some things without thinking and that is not helpful when you are at the negotiating table. You have to think very carefully about what you say and that is why I believe Theresa May would be an ideal leader in that she is cool, calm and collected – just what the country needs at the moment.

The fact that she is set to become only the second female Prime Minister in British history will inevitably draw comparisons with Margaret Thatcher. Margaret was a very committed and tough lady who knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it and then did exactly what she said she was going to do. There was no wavering.

I would say that Theresa is in the same vein and I am convinced that she can, and will, provide a steadying and controlling role which the country needs quickly to begin the process of leaving the European Union.

Detailed and hard-nosed negotiations will be necessary as we cannot accept an unbalanced exit which we would later regret.

While I became a fervent supporter of Leave I now acknowledge that Theresa, who took the Remain line is best suited to bring together a balanced team for these negotiations. As the longest serving Home Secretary this century she has demonstrated her ability to fulfil a difficult role. At times the Referendum campaign was annoying and controversial but it demonstrated that there are well qualified people at Westminster who can, under her guidance and control, achieve the “Freedom goal” maybe quicker than we think.

Andrea’s decision to withdraw makes it possible for David Cameron to go earlier than anticipated to allow Theresa to build her new government before the autumn.

To provide continuity, she might encourage him to stay on in an advisory role as Deputy Prime Minister until after the Conservative Party Conference in October at which we can thank him for his leadership.

From here Theresa needs to build a team that can carry on with the day to day governance of the country but she also needs to create a dedicated EU Exit Task Force headed by a senior Cabinet Minister with the objective of ensuring that the Leave referendum issues are recognised and followed through.

These are not exclusively Conservative Party requirements so it is appropriate that other political parties are kept in the picture on the basis that we are “all in it together”. For example, followers of Nigel Farage and Ukip have firm views as do Gisela Stewart MP, Kate Hoey MP and Frank Field MP from Labour – these sort of people need to be available to give advice directly to the Task Force.

The new government and particularly the Task Force will require widespread support from the electorate and our Press when the going gets tough, as it will.

We must be prepared to stand up to the European bureaucracy. With this approach I fervently believe that Britain, once free from Europe, has a great future and we should take an optimistic view. The UK Stock Exchange index is rising and our currency is stabilising at a level which will increase exports and provide better margins for our internationally trading companies.

I welcome the new government and this whole new approach to trade, industry and international affairs. We could just be heading to a new golden age of “Mayism” and an even greater Britain.

Time will tell and we will need patience on the way.

Elizabeth Peacock was Conservative MP for Batley & Spen from 1983 to 1997.