Statement regarding Theresa May as next UK Prime Minister
By Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin, MBE, JP, MLA
11-7-2016

I, and the people of the Cayman Islands, congratulate Theresa May for her eventual role as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

We learned earlier today that Andrea Leadsom has quit the Tory leadership race, putting Ms May in place as Britain’s second female Prime Minister. Prime Minister David Cameron has also announced that Ms May will become Prime Minister by Wednesday evening.

This quick leadership change is not only good for the United Kingdom, but also for the Overseas Territories, bringing to the UK and the European Union a semblance of certainty and stability now that a new leader has been chosen. I believe it will also help move along the process of the decision of the United Kingdom voters to leave the European Union.

I look forward to the Joint Ministerial Conference in London in October and discussing matters of common interest between the UK and the Cayman Islands and the way forward as we embark on this historical change in world politics.

Ms May will follow in the steps of Mr. Cameron who has been a true friend to the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, especially when he declared that Overseas Territories should not be considered tax havens. We also appreciate his defence of the Cayman Islands and other Overseas Territories at the recent anti-corruption summit in London.

Ms May, 59, has been home secretary since 2010, and while she did support Britain staying in the EU has vowed to make a success of Brexit.

The process of naming Ms May as the next Prime Minister is with the Conservative Party, as well as Buckingham Palace, and it is understood that there will be no need for an election for that post.

We appreciate the work Mr. Cameron did to support us and look forward to working with Ms May and the new government.