The race to succeed Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has intensified as Britain grapples with growing signs of economic strain resulting from the country's vote to leave the European Union.
With the British currency plunging to its lowest point in three decades on Tuesday, Home Secretary Theresa May scored a substantial victory in the first round of voting to determine who will follow Cameron as party leader and prime minister.
She garnered just over half the votes cast, with 165 Conservative Party MPs backing her.
Her strong showing does not guarantee she will eventually reside at 10 Downing Street, however, as MPs will narrow the field to two candidates and then put the matter to a vote before the entire party membership.
That means more twists and turns are likely in the vital leadership race.
The victor, to be announced September 9, will be charged with becoming prime minister and leading what are expected to be tense negotiations to extricate Britain from the 28-nation EU bloc.
May, who backed remaining in the EU during the hard-fought campaign, said she was pleased by the result in the leadership vote and very grateful to her colleagues.
"There is a big job before us: To unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone," said May, who now says the peoples' desire to leave the EU must be respected.
She faces two challengers in Thursday's second round, which will determine which candidates go forward: Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom and Justice Secretary Michael Gove.
Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox was eliminated from the race after finishing last, and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb withdrew and backed May after finishing fourth.
The race was enlivened by a rare glimpse of two Conservative Party grandees talking bluntly about their younger colleagues, apparently unaware they were being filmed by TV cameras.
Former treasury chief Kenneth Clarke, speaking candidly to former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind, described May as a "bloody difficult woman" who knew little about foreign affairs.
Rifkind, for his part, said he didn't care who got into the final round as long as it wasn't Gove.
Clarke joked that if Gove became prime minister he would probably get Britain involved in at least three wars at once.
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