UK justice secretary launches leadership campaign

LONDON (AA) - Britain’s next prime minister should be a politician who argued to leave the EU, Justice Secretary Michael Gove said as he launched his leadership challenge in London on Friday.

Gove is among five candidates vying to lead the ruling Conservative Party and take over from Prime Minister David Cameron in September.

“I never thought I would ever be in this position,” he said in a televised speech. “I did not want it, indeed I did almost everything not be a candidate for the leadership of this party.

“The public voted for no more politics as usual, no more business as usual and that is why I am the candidate for change.”

Gove was one of the prominent campaigners for the U.K. to leave the EU in the run-up to last week’s referendum, which saw voters opt for Britain to exit, or Brexit, the bloc.

On Thursday, fellow leading Leave campaigner Boris Johnson withdrew from the race to replace Cameron, leaving Gove and Home Secretary Theresa May, who was in favor of remaining in the union, as favorites.

Gove praised May’s achievements as home secretary but said the next premier should be a pro-Brexit campaigner. “Theresa did not argue for and did not put the case for Britain leaving the union,” he said. “That is a fundamental division of principle between the two of us.”

Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb and former Defense Secretary Liam Fox are also seeking the leadership.

Under party rules, the candidates will be reduced to two in a vote among the party’s lawmakers before party members choose between the final pair. The first vote will take place on July 5 and the winner will be declared on Sept. 9.