Brexit: Andrea Leadsom emerges as new pro-Brexit choice for UK PM

This handout photo shows British Conservative Party politician Andrea Leadsom. (AFP file photo)

British pro-Brexit lawmaker, Andrea Leadsom, emerges as the closest rival to frontrunner candidate Theresa May in a race to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron.
The junior minister, who has not been very well known to most voters, attracted support from some lawmakers and became second-favorite to succeed Cameron, British media reported on Saturday.
Leadsom won the backing of former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith on Friday.
The 53-year-old lawmaker is expected to announce her plan for the leadership on Monday.
Leadsom, who campaigned to leave the European Union, told the Daily Telegraph on Saturday that the next prime minister must be a Brexit supporter rather than someone “who is reluctantly following the wishes of the people.”
“I genuinely believe that if we want to make a go of it, then we need somebody who believes in it," she added.
Leadsom now leads Justice Secretary Michael Gove, who failed to land significant support from fellow Conservative lawmakers, but stays behind Interior Minister Theresa May, who supported the "Remain" campaign.

British Interior Minister Theresa May announced her bid to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday, June 30, 2016. © AFP

Britain voted to leave the EU after 43 years of membership in a referendum last week. The vote, dubbed Brexit, prompted Cameron to announce his resignation and leave exit negotiations to a successor.
While the political leaders of the EU call on Britain to start exit negotiations as soon as possible, Cameron refuses to involve in any negotiation and says he would leave it to the next prime minister.
Meanwhile on Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets of London to protest the exit vote. An organizer of the rally said people “can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say.”
The exit vote has also divided the UK, with Scotland and Northern Ireland demanding to remain in the union.