For my English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Friends

[dewline]

I'm sorry for the Conservative Party's choice re: Boris Johnson.

For whatever that's worth to you.

Comments

[jo]

Party leaders in Westminster parliamentary systems aren't typically elected by the general public at large. Members of the party (meaning members of the public who are members of the party -- not to be confused with MPs [Members of the party sitting in the House of Commons], did have a vote in both the Tory and Liberal Democratic leader selection.

PMs are not elected, they are appointed by the Crown. Governments are not elected, they are decided by the outcome of the parliament, and remain in place only as long as they hold the confidence of said parliament.

[thewayne]

I understand that.  May fell in to it when Blair resigned and it became a run-off between two women, neither of which was standing as leader of the party.  The other withdrew because of some scandal in her past IIRC.  May stood in the Remain camp!  I believe I read that there would have been a general election if not for the vote of confidence, which reset the clock for such an election. Every country has weirdness in their politics.

[jo]

May fell in to it when Blair resigned

It was David Cameron who resigned following the result of the referendum to leave the EU. Blair was three governments before that and a different party.

it became a run-off between two women, neither of which was standing as leader of the party

Not sure what you mean by that last part. There was a leadership race declared to replace Cameron. Five Conservative MPs put themselves forward as candidates: Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom, and Theresa May. Conservative Members of Parliament had voted initially in a series of ballots to determine which two candidates would go forward to a nationwide ballot of Conservative Party members for the final decision, and that resulted in May and Leadsom, both who were very much standing as candidates for the leadership. You are correct that Leadsom felt she had to withdraw and she did that before the ballot with the two remaining candidates was put to the wider party membership.

I believe I read that there would have been a general election if not for the vote of confidence, which reset the clock for such an election. Every country has weirdness in their politics.

Well, there was a general election in 2017, and May lost the Tory majority as the election returned a hung parliament. There was a confidence vote in the government in January of this year, which the government won. There wouldn't necessarily have been an election if they'd lost. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) stipulates that there would have been a 14-day period wherein either a new government could have been formed, or May's government could seek to regain the confidence of the House. If, after 14 days, the House had not passed a motion of confidence in either the former gov't or a new gov't, then there would have been a new election. Things have never progressed to that point since the FTPA was passed in 2011, so no one is really sure how that 14-day period plays out.