Theresa May has confirmed that
she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June in order for a leadership election to take place this summer.
Following a widespread revolt over her 'new Brexit deal', the Prime Minister has finally caved to growing calls from her MPs to step down. Her decision follows a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the leader of backbench Tories, in Downing Street this morning.
Mrs May said that the process of electing her successor would begin the week after she finally stepped down as Conservative leader. She said she had informed the Queen that she would continue to serve as Prime Minister until that process was complete.
In an emotional statement on the steps of Downing Street, she said she had "done my best" to get her Withdrawal Agreement Bill through Parliament but acknowledged she had failed to do so.
"It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit," she said.
"I have striven to make the UK a country that works not just for a privileged few but for everyone and to honour the result of the EU referendum."
Watched by husband Philip and her closest aides, Mrs May said it was in the "best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort".
"So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday 7th June so that a successor can be chosen."
Concluding her statement, Mrs May's voice broke as she said: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold.
"The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love."
Comment: Here's her full statement:
Despite the tears, few in the UK feel sorry for her.
She may feel contrition for 'failing to deliver Brexit', but the real mission since she took over from Cameron three years ago has been - first and foremost - to reinstate parliament as the arbiter of whether or not the UK leaves the EU. In that respect, she has been successful. The 'dictatorship of the parliamentariat' has been preserved, and for now the entrenched political class remains relevant...
Meanwhile, real issues that urgently require government intervention are piling up in the UK:
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has, of course, seized the opportunity to again call for a general election:
After three years of fecklessness by the entire political class over Brexit, Corbyn's chances of returning the Labour Party to power have likely also taken a hit. Why would people - a substantial majority of whom seem to support Brexit - vote Labour when that party offers no real alternative to the Conservative strategy of keeping the UK in the EU?
Nigel Farage has weighed in:
You'll never believe who the UK media is proposing as May's successor...
And where is BoJo at this crucial time? In Switzerland,
promising bankers that:
"We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal."
...which is EXACTLY what the Tories were saying about the March 31st deadline.
European leaders
suspect, correctly, that May's resignation forms part of the UK permanent govt's strategy for managing Brexit while holding onto power. All the Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov had to say about it was:
"Regrettably, I cannot recall offhand any landmarks that might somehow illustrate a contribution to the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Britain. It is rather the other way round."
Indeed, apart from 'not-Brexit', what else will May be recorded in history for... the 'not-nerve agent' Skripal Saga?
Comment: Here's her full statement:
Despite the tears, few in the UK feel sorry for her.
She may feel contrition for 'failing to deliver Brexit', but the real mission since she took over from Cameron three years ago has been - first and foremost - to reinstate parliament as the arbiter of whether or not the UK leaves the EU. In that respect, she has been successful. The 'dictatorship of the parliamentariat' has been preserved, and for now the entrenched political class remains relevant...
Meanwhile, real issues that urgently require government intervention are piling up in the UK:
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has, of course, seized the opportunity to again call for a general election:
After three years of fecklessness by the entire political class over Brexit, Corbyn's chances of returning the Labour Party to power have likely also taken a hit. Why would people - a substantial majority of whom seem to support Brexit - vote Labour when that party offers no real alternative to the Conservative strategy of keeping the UK in the EU?
Nigel Farage has weighed in:
You'll never believe who the UK media is proposing as May's successor...
And where is BoJo at this crucial time? In Switzerland, promising bankers that: ...which is EXACTLY what the Tories were saying about the March 31st deadline.
European leaders suspect, correctly, that May's resignation forms part of the UK permanent govt's strategy for managing Brexit while holding onto power. All the Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov had to say about it was: Indeed, apart from 'not-Brexit', what else will May be recorded in history for... the 'not-nerve agent' Skripal Saga?