Embattled outgoing PM Theresa May, who has officially resigned from her post, was compelled to open up on whether she'd ever dabbled in cocaine, cannabis or opium like several of her potential successors who hope to reside at 10 Downing Street: candidates Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom and Rory Stewart, writes The Express.
When asked by The Times, a statement from her official spokesman confirmed “Theresa May has never taken any illegal drugs”.
Social media had a field day, with users attempting to outwit one another in their quips.
NEW: PM’s official spokesman confirms that Theresa May has never taken any illegal drugs
— Henry Zeffman (@hzeffman) June 10, 2019
One, referring to her infamous interview, said: “So she was running through that wheat field sober?”
so she was running through that wheat field sober?
— Josh Powell (@JoshPowell88) June 10, 2019
Naked, but sober. 😏
— That Munro Woman. (@SusanMunro13) June 10, 2019
Anyone know what drugs Theresa May regretted taking back in the day?
— timerousbeastie (@timerousbeastie) June 8, 2019
No. The fields were of wheat…
— pank (@pankp007) June 10, 2019
Some referred to her meme-generating Abba boogie on stage.
already seen it, her dancing onto the stage
— Anth (@Anths_ok) June 10, 2019
Tory leadership candidate Michael Gove had to contend with a wave of scrutiny over his drug confession as he launched his campaign.
A former Conservative Party chair said that Michael Gove should quit the leadership race after he admitted to taking cocaine.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who chaired the party from 2010-12, said it was “completely inappropriate” for Gove to stay in the contest after confirming that he'd tried the class A drug while a young journalist at several social occasions.
Michael Gove said he “profoundly” regrets having snorted the drug and admitted he was “fortunate” not to have gone to prison, writes the Independent.
Gove deftly redirected attention from his cocaine-chequered past onto fellow contender Boris Johnson, urging him not to “pull out” of the race in reference to his initial doomed effort in 2016.
“In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar.”
Speaking to GQ magazine as far back as 2007, he confessed to have tried cocaine and cannabis at university, adding it “achieved no pharmacological, psychotropic or any other effect on me whatsoever”.
Jeremy Hunt also admitted to trying cannabis as a one-off, telling The Times: “I think I had a cannabis lassi when I went backpacking through India”.
“That is almost as naughty as wheat fields.”
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Ten candidates have formally entered the race to be the next prime minister, after securing the backing of eight fellow Conservative MPs.
Their number dropped from 11 as Sam Gyimah announced he would pull out of the race, after failing to win enough support.
They will go through to a series of votes by MPs to leave just two frontrunners, who will then go head to head among Tory party members, who will choose their next leader.
Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister on Friday, but will continue in the role until a replacement is confirmed.
