As a result of the United Kingdom’s 52% to 48% decision to leave the European Union, prime minister David Cameron will leave office by Oct. 2016, according to the BBC.
It is a fate the prime minister sealed for himself. Cameron opened the door for an EU referendum with a Jan. 2013 speech delivered at Bloomberg’s London headquarters: “I am in favor of a referendum. I believe in confronting this issue—shaping it, leading the debate. Not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away.”
According to the Financial Times, the setting for that decision a pizzeria at Chicago’s O’Hare International airport. There, Cameron met with British foreign secretary William Hague and Downing Street chief of staff Ed Llewellyn.
The exact pizza restaurant was not specified: There are about a dozen in the sprawling airport, most selling Chicago-style “deep-dish pizza” that is controversial among pizza aficionados.
Though the prime minister has been staunchly opposed to holding a referendum on British EU membership, he nevertheless decided one was necessary for the survival of the Conservative party as it faced a threat from far-right, protectionist United Kingdom Independence Party.
The FT’s George Parker and Alex Barker described it as a “kick the can down the road” party-management exercise. Instead, it ended with a party leader kicked out of office.
(h/t Andrew Edgecliff-Johnson)