LONDON: A tearful Theresa May announced she was quitting the job that had been the “honour of my life to hold” as she set out the timetable for her exit from Number 10, paving the way for the potentially brutal contest to replace her after she steps down as Tory leader on June 7.
In an emotional statement in Downing Street, with husband Philip and her closest aides watching on, May said it was in the “best interests of the country” for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit.
Her voice cracked 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.”
The Prime Minister — who had an audience with the Queen on Wednesday — said she had kept the monarch informed of her plans and will remain in office until the leadership process is concluded. Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis said he expected a new leader would be announced in late July, before parliament rises for the summer recess.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said May’s replacement should call an immediate general election. May’s decision to finally name the date for her resignation came after a bitter backlash against her last effort to get a Brexit deal through parliament.
A cabinet mutiny and the prospect of the backbench 1922 Committee allowing another motion of confidence in her leadership eventually forced the Prime Minister’s hand. Her announcement came following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee.
She insisted she had “done my best” to deliver Brexit and take the UK out of the European Union. But almost three years after the UK voted to break away from Brussels, May said: “It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum.”
With Brexiteer Boris Johnson the current favourite to replace her, and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab his nearest contender, May warned against a hardline approach, saying a consensus was necessary.
“Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise,” she said. Within minutes of the Prime Minister’s statement, cabinet colleagues — including some who have ambitions to replace her — paid tribute to May.
And Johnson, who quit as the Prime Minister’s foreign secretary over Brexit, praised her “dignified” statement and “stoical” service. But he said it was now time to “come together and deliver Brexit”.
Earlier, in a sign that the leadership race to replace May was already under way, Helen Grant quit as Conservative vice chair for communities to “actively and openly” support Dominic Raab. She quit her Tory party role to avoid any “perception of a conflict” between Raab’s campaign and Conservative HQ.
Grant said the former Brexit secretary “has an inspiring vision for a fairer Britain and I think he is undoubtedly the best person to unite the Conservative Party and our country”.
Within the cabinet, Environment Secretary Michael Gove — who stood in the 2016 leadership race and may consider another bid — said May “deserves our respect and gratitude”. Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock, another potential leadership contender, said it was an “incredibly moving and dignified” speech.
Cabinet ministers who led the revolt over the Prime Minister’s last-ditch Brexit plan also joined in the tributes. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who met May on Thursday to deliver his assessment that her Brexit deal would never pass, said the Prime Minister was a “true public servant”.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who had a “frank” discussion with May about her deal on Thursday, said “nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty”. Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who had raised concerns about May’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill opening the door to a second referendum — a move which could have been “exploited” by the SNP to call for another independence vote — said “nobody could have worked harder or shown a greater sense of public duty”.
But he added it was “time to get on with the process” of choosing her successor. Corbyn said May had finally accepted “she cannot govern and nor can her divided and disintegrating party”.
“The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected prime minister,” he said. “Whoever becomes the new Conservative leader must let the people decide our country’s future, through an immediate general election.”
