Conservative Party starts choosing leader as pound sinks

The pound, also known as sterling, sank over two and a half cents, or 1.4 percent, to $1.3, the weakest level in 31 years against the USA currency.

The post-Brexit political churn in Britain has seen a Prime Minister resign, two prominent leaders of the “Leave” camp step aside, a lot of backroom political manoeuvring in leadership contests in both the Conservative and Labour parties, and the distinct possibility of a “Remain” Prime Minister from the Conservative party replacing the incumbent Prime Minister.

The drawn-out selection process, in which justice minister Michael Gove won 48 votes and works and pensions minister Stephen Crabb 34, will ultimately be decided by about 150,000 Conservative party members in September, once MPs have whittled the field down to two candidates.

Andrea Leadsom, a junior minister, offered reassurance to European Union nationals now living in Britain: “I commit today to guaranteeing the rights of our European Union friends who’ve already come here to live and work”.

The release of a long-awaited report into Britain’s involvement in the 2003 Iraq invasion on Wednesday is likely to pour oil on the fire, pitching pacifist Corbyn against MPs who supported then prime minister Tony Blair’s decision to join the US-led war.

Interior minister Theresa May is styled as clear frontrunner in the race to succeed David Cameron, who announced he would quit after the shock result of the Jun 23 referendum.

The Bank of England has cited the commercial real estate market as one of the risks to the British economy.

After this round, there will be another vote on Thursday, where only two MPs will be left in the race.

Nigel Farage, the outspoken leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the face of euroscepticism in the U.K., stepped down as leader of his party.

The ramifications of leaving the EU’s single market of 500 million are roiling financial markets. Bank of England governor Mark Carney speaks during a news conference at the Bank of England in London, Tuesday, July 5, 2016. The sector had taken in capital from overseas and had become “stretched”, the bank said.

“Risk does seem to be under some pressure today – the news that Standard Life is suspending trading in its commercial property fund is having some impact for sure, and that’s contributing to the generally weaker tone in risk sentiment”, said Societe Generale currency strategist Alvin Tan. Both said they stopped trading to protect other investors who wished to remain in their respective funds.

Johnson, one of the most prominent figures in the “leave” campaign to get out of the European Union, said Leadsom, 53, has the “zap, drive and determination” to lead the country.

“Dominoes are starting to fall” in Britain’s commercial property market, said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at investment company Hargreaves Lansdown.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told EU lawmakers Tuesday that “leave” campaign figureheads Johnson and Farage “are not patriots”.

There are around three million citizens of other EU countries living in Britain, compared to about 1.2 million Britons living in other European countries.

“Patriots don’t resign when things get hard, they stay”.

Guy Verhofstadt, the Liberal bloc leader in the EU Parliament, likened the departed leaders to “rats fleeing a sinking ship”.