History of the Conservative Party (UK) Foreign affairs select committee described the lack of planning as "gross negligence" which made his successor's task much more difficult. In July 2016 Theresa May succeeded David Cameron as Tory Leader and Prime Minister following Andrea Leadsom's withdrawal from the leadership contest. She is the second woman to lead the party and subsequently the second female Prime Minister, following Margaret Thatcher. With the support of 199/320 Conservative MPs, May was seen as the most experienced figure who could unite the party after a bitter campaign in which Michael Gove, a supporter and running mate of Boris Johnson, publicly declared Johnson
Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom the European Union, and met then with ridicule. In the 1960s the membership attempts of Conservative UK governments faced strong resistance from the Continent, especially from the French president, Charles de Gaulle. Instead of being offered a leadership role, Britain was put on a yearlong waiting list, a major political humiliation for pro-European Britons. De Gaulle's veto in 1963 was a devastating blow for Harold Macmillan, who, according to Hugo Young, was not the last Tory politician to end his or her career as a result of European affairs. The UK faced a major economic decline and a row of