As the British pound recovered from its Brexit swoon and European leaders met in Brussels for a two-day summit, good news emerged for U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May.
A new poll for The Times showed May is the favorite among Conservative Party voters to replace Prime Minister David Cameron. The YouGov poll showed May, whom Fortune wrote about last week, is the preference of 31% of conservative voters. Some 24% back Boris Johnson, the brash ex-journalist and former London mayor. The result was a big switch from an April poll, which showed 36% backed Johnson and 14% had a preference for May. Those betting on the outcome at William Hill, Ladbrokes and Betfair backed her yesterday as well.
May, who’s been little known outside the U.K. until now, has the support of some of Cameron’s supporters and is viewed as having a steady hand. The Guardian, which once compared her to “a calm headmistress in a chamber full of over-excitable public school boys,” recently cast her as a “Stop Boris” candidate. And the Financial Times says the momentum has swung in her favor. A decision is expected in early September.
In her current job, May is responsible for the hot-button issue of immigration. While she has not met her party’s promises to cut net immigrant inflows to below 100,000 a year, her calm demeanor is one the U.K. could use right now.
Laura Cohn
@laurascohn
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
| Merkel talks tough |
| Angela Merkel took a tough line on Brexit, telling the U.K. it would not be able to engage in "cherry picking" in its post-vote talks. "We must and will make a palpable difference over whether a country wants to be a member of the family of the European Union or not," she said, in a speech to the Bundestag. She repeated the theme later at a summit in Brussels. |
| Financial Times |
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| Le Pen's new wind |
| Since the Brexit vote, French Far-Right leader Marine Le Pen, who has pledged to push a "Frexit" if she becomes president, has received a lot of attention. She was invited to meet with French President Francois Hollande over the weekend, and has now penned a piece for the New York Times, in which she calls the Brexit vote "an act of courage." |
| New York Times |
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| Advising Sturgeon |
| Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is expected to be in Brussels today to discuss keeping Scotland in the EU, has assembled a panel of experts to advise her on the post-Brexit world. Sturgeon has said she will push for a second Scottish independence referendum, but Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has thrown cold water on the idea. |
| BBC |
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| Brexit hits Wimbledon |
| Good thing Serena Williams won Wimbledon last year. Winners of this year's tournament will take home less money than champions did last year, thanks (or no thanks?) to the pound's post-Brexit decline. |
| Fortune |
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THE AMERICAS
| What Brexit taught Hillary |
| Hillary Clinton said the outcome of the Brexit vote shows that the Remain campaign did not do a good job of taking on the "misleading" claims of the Leave campaigners. She's taken the analysis to heart. In her race, Clinton says instead of "sitting around letting Donald Trump say whatever he wants to say, we are responding." |
| Linked In |
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| An opening in private equity |
| The effort to get more women into private equity just got a big boost. With investments from CVC Capital Partners and Charterhouse Capital Partners, Level 20, which aims to increase the number of women in the industry, is now looking for a CEO. |
| Financial News |
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| Google walks the walk |
| Talk about commitment to diversity. Google's New York building is opening a 3,000 square-foot office for the nonprofit organization Black Girls Code, which hosts coding teaching programs. |
| Fortune |
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ASIA-PACIFIC
| Sprinting in India |
| Dutee Chand just became the first woman in India to qualify for an Olympic sprinting event. But she's already won a big race—she managed to defeat a worldwide rule that banned female athletes whose bodies produce a large amount of testosterone. |
| Live Mint |
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| Not Gaga in China |
| Beijing is on a roll this week. First, it stopped talking to Taiwan's diplomats because Taiwan's first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, hasn't supported a unified China. Now, it has banned Lady Gaga for meeting with the Dalai Lama. |
| Guardian |
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IN BRIEF
| House committee's final report on Benghazi spares Hillary Clinton |
| New York Times |
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| Why things will get better for women in business if Clinton wins |
| Inc. |
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| Queen Elizabeth may get a 3 million-pound pay raise |
| Independent |
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| Why Brexit has Wall Street betting Fed Chair Janet Yellen will cut rates |
| Fortune |
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| Female entrepreneurs drawn to the business of marijuana |
| The Atlantic |
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PARTING WORDS
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