Following British Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation, the succession struggle for the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has begun. So far, ten politicians have announced their application for the post including Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove, who would give British citizenship to those living in the UK from all EU countries who were officially resident in the UK during the referendum on Brexit.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove, is going to make an announcement concerning around three million people including a number of Eastern Europeans, too. He has previously indicated that he would run for the vacant post of premier Theresa May. In case of being elected, Gove would provide, in essence, automatic citizenship to anyone arriving from an EU country who was officially and habitually resident in the United Kingdom during the 2016 referendum on Brexit.

Michael Gove was one of the iconic faces of pro-Brexit campaigners at the time of the referendum, and his current announcement basically confirms the promise that the rights of EU citizens living in the United Kingdom will not be damaged even after Brexit. He plans to issue a so-called resident status which would be given to the EU citizens automatically, but application should be submitted for the citizenship. However, compared to the one-two thousand pound cost of the process earlier, it would be free, and more-or-less a simple formality.

Gove will not have an easy job in the battle for the Prime Minister’s position, as there are six former or current ministers alone on the list, and the conservative leader of the House of Commons in the Parliament Andrea Leadsom will also be heading for the position. In recent days, Leadsom has been announced in the news that her resignation of the faction leader position was actually the final nail in the coffin of Theresa May as Prime Minister.

Source: V4 Agency