Mrs. May said on Friday that she would step down as leader of the Conservative Party and then as Britain’s prime minister, after repeatedly failing to get her Brexit plan through Parliament.
By The New York Times
Mrs. May will continue as a member of Parliament, according to the Press Association news agency.
Prime Minister Theresa May outside 10 Downing Street in London on Friday. Her premiership has been beset by crises.CreditSimon Dawson/Reuters
“I have done everything I can,” Mrs. May said.
Facing a cabinet rebellion, Theresa May announced on Friday morning her decision to leave office. She spoke briefly after meeting with Graham Brady, a powerful leader of backbench Conservative lawmakers.
Standing in front of 10 Downing Street, Mrs. May said it was in the “best interests of the country for a new prime minister” to lead Britain through the Brexit process. She announced plans to step down as the leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, with the process to replace her beginning the following week.
“I feel as certain today as I did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice you have a duty to implement what they decide. I have done my best to do that,” she added. “I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so.”
[Read Mrs. May’s entire speech here.]
Mrs. May’s voice cracked as she said she was honored to serve the country as the “second female prime minister, but certainly not the last,” and said the role had been the honor of her life.
She will continue as a member of Parliament after stepping down as prime minister, the Press Association news agency has reported.
A turbulent term is coming to an awkward end.
Conservative lawmakers have been deeply frustrated by Mrs. May’s failure to deliver on Brexit, which became the government’s central — some would say its sole — preoccupation after the country voted to leave the union in a 2016 referendum.
But the breaking point has come at an awkward moment, with President Trump scheduled to arrive in Britain on June 3 for a state visit and to take part in events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings that preceded the end of World War II.
Mrs. May’s ability to soak up political punishment and plow on regardless won her admiration, even from some of her many critics. But the pressure on her increased after disastrous local election results this month, when the Conservatives lost more than 1,300 seats in municipalities around the country and voters vented their frustration over the Brexit infighting and deadlock.
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Then, the government announced that Britain would, after all, take part in elections to the European Parliament this week — another symbol of Mrs. May’s failure to achieve a withdrawal. Britons voted on Thursday, but the results will be announced on Sunday, after all the European Union countries have gone to the polls. They are expected to be catastrophic for the Conservatives.Boris Johnson, the hard-line Brexit supporter and former foreign secretary, is one of the candidates to replace Mrs. May.CreditNeil Hall/EPA, via Shutterstock
The succession race has already begun.
Conservative lawmakers have been positioning themselves for a leadership contest for months. Several were already campaigning actively before Mrs. May announced her decision to resign.
Candidates for party leadership have to be nominated by two other members of Parliament, though if there is only one candidate, he or she automatically becomes the new leader. If more than two candidates emerge, lawmakers vote among themselves to narrow the field and then put two candidates to a vote by all Conservative Party members, who number approximately 120,000.
The Conservative Party chairman, Brandon Lewis, said in a statement on Friday that lawmakers would begin their voting process on June 10, and that the new leader would be in place before Parliament’s summer break, which usually begins in late July.
Hard-line Brexit supporters will be determined to replace Mrs. May with someone from their ranks. The former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson; the former Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab; and Andrea Leadsom, who left her cabinet post as leader of the House of Commons on Wednesday, are seen as likely contenders.
But less ideological figures are likely to put themselves forward, too, including Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and Sajid Javid, the home secretary.
