Theresa May has announced her resignation as Conservative leader, clearing the way for a new UK prime minister to pick up the formidable challenge of delivering Brexit and reuniting a shattered party.
Mrs May said in an emotional statement in Downing Street that she would resign as Tory leader on Friday June 7, triggering a leadership contest that will start the following week which former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is favourite to win.
The prime minister said she would continue in a caretaker role until a new Conservative leader is elected; that process — involving Tory MPs and party activists — is expected to be wrapped up before the end of July.
Mrs May finally yielded to the inevitable in a statement in Downing Street on Friday just after 10am, following a meeting with Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench Tory 1922 committee.
Sir Graham had made it clear that she stood no chance of winning parliamentary backing for her revamped Brexit deal and had lost the confidence of her party.
The prime minister admitted on the steps of Number 10 that she had been defeated by the challenge of delivering Brexit, having surrendered her parliamentary majority in an election in 2017:
“I did my best,” she said. Mrs May put her deal to the House of Commons but was defeated three times, initially by the biggest majority against a government in history, as Eurosceptics, Remainers and the Labour opposition united against her Brexit plans.
“It is a matter of deep regret that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” she said, adding that whoever succeeded her as prime minister would have to compromise and build a cross-party consensus if the UK was to leave the EU with a deal. UK prime minister Theresa May resigns The prime minister, normally noted for keeping her emotions firmly hidden, became tearful as she spoke of the “honour” of leading Britain:
“The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last,” she said of herself. Mrs May said her legacy would include trying to make the UK a fairer place, improving the environment, building more homes and completing the task of eliminating the budget deficit, and suggested that her successor should stick to the centre ground.
“This is what a decent, moderate and compassionate Conservative government on the common ground of British politics can deliver,” she said.
The prime minister will formally resign as Tory leader on June 7 after taking part in D-Day commemorations in France and hosting Donald Trump on a state visit to the UK.
Reuters
