Theresa May To Step Down As Conservative Leader

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May has revealed that she will quit her position as Conservative leader on 7 June.

This will pave the way for a contest to decide a new prime minister.

In an emotional statement delivered today, May said that she had done her best to honour the 2016 EU referendum result and It would remain a matter of “deep regret” that she had been unable to deliver Brexit.

The statement said that she will continue to serve as prime minister while a Conservative leadership contest takes place. She will step down as Tory leader on June 7th and a leadership contest is due to begin the following week.

Theresa May has been a target of criticism from her MPs against her latest Brexit plan, which included concessions aimed at attracting cross-party support.

Andrea Leadsom quit as Commons leader on Wednesday saying she no longer believed it would “deliver on the referendum result”.  May met Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at Downing Street on Thursday where they are understood to have expressed their concerns about the bill.

In her statement today, she said that in order to deliver Brexit, her successor would have to build agreement in Parliament. “Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise,” she said.