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BREAKING: Theresa May resigns, breaks down in tears as she reveals she will step down as Conservative leader on 7 June – Video/Text
Theresa May has announced her resignation, breaking down in tears as she revealed she will stand down as Conservative party leader on Friday 7 June.
Ms May said she had “done my best” in her statement outside 10 Downing Street. “It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit.”
It follows a meeting Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, early this morning after “frank” talks between senior ministers on Thursday.
Series of comments, remarks and analysis preceding the PM’s resignation came from different quarters and persons, including the French President, Emmanuel Macron:
French President Emmanuel Macron stands ready to work with a new PM minister, but wants “rapid clarification” from the UK on Brexit, a senior official has told Reuters. “Our relations with the United Kingdom are critical in all areas. It is too early to speculate on the consequences of [May’s] decision,” the Macron aide said, adding it was essential that the EU’s smooth functioning was not affected. “We need rapid clarification” from Britain on what it wants with Brexit, the official added. The UK is still set to leave the EU without a deal at the end of October.
Tory MP and ERG stalwart Mark Francois has just indicated he would back “Brexit hardman” Steve Baker to become the next prime minister of the UK. The obsession with Europe has now doomed yet another Tory leader. With the contest coming soon, Sean O’Grady explains why the country is now in the mercy “about 124,000 slightly dotty members” of the Conservative Party.
Not everyone is saying nice things about Theresa May this morning. Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Greens, said: “While May was almost uniquely ill-equipped to be the negotiator we needed, the truth is she was given an impossible job.
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“You can’t achieve a hard Brexit and avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland. No new PM can achieve it either.” Lucas said the case for a second referendum on Brexit is “stronger than ever”.
Boris Johnson is the strong favourite to succeed May at No. 10, at least with British bookmakers.
The former foreign secretary is out in front on 6/4, according to Oddschecker – which compiles odds from all the leading betting firms.
Dominic Raab is second favourite at 6/1, with Michael Gove at 12/1 and Jeremy Hunt and Andrea Leadsom both at 14/1. Sajid Javid is further back at 25/1.
Perhaps not a huge surprise, but a European Commission spokesperson has said the EU’s position on the terms of Britain’s exit has not changed despite May’s resignation.
Spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said President Jean-Claude Juncker said he listened to her announcement this morning “without personal joy”.
“The president very much liked and appreciated working with Prime Minister May. He will equally respect and establish working relations with any new prime minister, whomever it may be. Our position on the withdrawal agreement – there is no change to that,” Andreeva said.
She reiterated the bloc would not change the stalled Brexit withdrawal deal but could tweak the accompanying political declaration on EU-UK ties after Brexit.
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable has responded to May’s resignation, calling, unsurprisingly, for a second referendum on Brexit.
“The prime minister is right to recognise that her administration has reached the end of the road. Sadly her compromises through the last three years have too often been with the right-wing of her own party, rather than about bringing the country together.
“Conservative Party interest has always trumped national interest, and yet Conservative MPs continue to demand an ever more extreme Brexit policy. The best and only option remains to take Brexit back to the people. I believe the public would now choose to stop Brexit.”
The prime minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte has said he had spoken to Theresa May since her resignation to convey his thanks and respect
Rutte suggested the EU would not give up on the current Brexit deal, tweeting: “The deal reached between the European Union and Britain for an orderly Brexit remains on the table.”
DUP Leader Arlene Foster says she enjoyed a “respectful” relationship with Theresa May. “After the General Election in June 2017, we worked with the Prime Minister and her team through the Confidence and Supply Agreement.
“Whilst at times there were differences in our approach, particularly on Brexit, we enjoyed a respectful and courteous relationship.
“In particular, I commend and thank the Prime Minister for her dutiful approach on national issues and her willingness to recognise Northern Ireland’s need for additional resources through Confidence and Supply arrangements.
“I pay tribute to her selfless service in the interests of the United Kingdom and wish her well for the future.”
Here’s our political sketch writer Tom Peck with his take on Theresa May’s resignation and her “remarkable cameo” in the highest office in the land.
We now have Nigel Farage’s response to Theresa May’s resignation.
The Brexit Party leader tweeted: “It is difficult not to feel for Ms May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU. Either the party learns that lesson or it dies.”
Business chiefs don’t sound happy about the imminent change of PM, as they repeated calls for an end to the uncertainty over Brexit.
Dr Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Businesses must be reassured that a change at the top in Downing Street does not simply usher in a longer period of posturing and gesture politics. Westminster has already squandered far too much time going around in circles on Brexit.”
Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of London First said: “After more than a thousand wasted days of Brexit chaos, the six-month extension the UK was granted to find a way out of this mess risks being squandered unless the Conservative Party gets its act together and fast … We cannot and must not risk crashing out of the EU in October.”
David Frost, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “We hope that a new leader can find a constructive way forward to break the impasse in Parliament and deliver certainty about the UK’s terms of exit from the EU. Exit on WTO terms is still a very real possibility on October 31 and whether or not it happens is not entirely in UK hands.”
CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn said: “Nation must be put ahead of party, prosperity ahead of politics. Compromise and consensus must re-find their voice in Parliament. We call on politicians from all parties, on all those ambitious to lead, to take this chance for a fresh start.”