LONDON — The race to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron intensified Tuesday as Britain grappled with growing signs of economic strain resulting from the country’s vote to leave the European Union.
With the British currency plunging to its lowest point in three decades, Home Secretary Theresa May scored a substantial victory in the first round of voting to determine who will follow Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister.
May garnered just over half the votes cast, with 165 Conservative Party members of Parliament backing her. Her strong showing does not guarantee that she will eventually reside at 10 Downing Street, however, as lawmakers will vote until they narrow the field to two candidates and then put the matter to a vote before the entire party membership.
That means more twists and turns are likely in the vital leadership race. The victor, to be announced Sept. 9, will be charged with becoming prime minister and leading what are expected to be tense negotiations to extricate Britain from the 28-nation EU bloc.
May, who backed remaining in the European Union during the hard-fought campaign, said she was pleased by the result in the leadership vote and very grateful to her colleagues.
‘‘There is a big job before us: To unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone,’’ said May, who now says the people’s desire to leave the European Union must be respected.
The ramifications of leaving the union’s vast single market of 500 million consumers are roiling financial markets. The British pound was down sharply Tuesday, as were shares in UK real estate companies, amid concerns that the exit from the European Union will hurt property prices in Britain.
Amid the upheaval, Bank of England governor Mark Carney projected a sense of calm Tuesday as he relaxed capital requirements for banks to free up money for loans for homes and businesses.
‘‘The bank can be expected to take whatever action is needed to promote monetary and financial stability, and as a consequence, support the real economy,’’ Carney said. ‘‘These efforts mean we can all look ahead, not over our shoulders.’’
The Bank of England has cited commercial real estate as one of the risks to the British economy. The sector had taken in capital from overseas and had become ‘‘stretched,’’ the bank said.
Financial groups Aviva Investors, Standard Life, and M&G Investments stopped trading Tuesday in commercial property funds following a rapid increase in investors trying to liquidate their holdings. They said they stopped trading to protect other investors who wished to remain in their respective funds.
The funds buy commercial property and offer shares to investors. Some of those investors now appear worried that companies might opt to leave London to move operations to mainland Europe to retain access to the lucrative EU market. That would leave empty office space and weigh down on commercial real estate values in Britain’s capital.
‘‘The dominoes are starting to fall in the UK commercial property market, as yet another fund locks its doors on the back of outflows precipitated by the Brexit vote,’’ Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said after the move by Aviva. ‘‘It’s probably only a matter of time before we see other funds follow suit.’’
There were major drops in property companies’ shares. Barratt Developments was down 6.2 percent, Taylor Wimpey 6.5 percent and Persimmon 5.4 percent.
