Theresa May to take over as British PM after Brexit shocks

Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May, who is due to take over as prime minister on Wednesday, waves as she leaves after a cabinet meeting at number 10 Downing Street, in central London, Britain July 12, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

LONDON - Theresa May will take over the job of British prime minister from David Cameron on Wednesday after a series of political shocks caused by Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

May, who has been interior minister for six years and is seen by her supporters as a safe pair of hands to steer Britain through the disruptive process of leaving the EU, will become Britain's second woman prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher.

Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in the 28-member bloc Britain had joined in 1973, announced the morning after the June 23 referendum that he would stand down, triggering a leadership contest in the ruling Conservative Party.

The contest had been due to last until September but ended unexpectedly on Monday when junior energy minister Andrea Leadsom, May's last rival candidate after others were eliminated, abruptly pulled out.

After taking part in his last weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in parliament's House of Commons at lunchtime, Cameron will make his way to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth.

May will then enter Number 10 Downing Street as prime minister before the end of the day.

She is expected to immediately start putting together a new cabinet, a complex political balancing act in which she will try and satisfy opposing camps in her party, which was bitterly split over the EU issue.

Before the referendum, May had campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU, albeit in a low-key fashion. Since the vote, she has repeatedly said that "Brexit means Brexit" and her backers say she is determined to make the exit a success.