Theresa May resigns: Boris Johnson threatens no-deal Brexit as prominent Conservatives announce bids to replace PM
MPs pay tribute to ‘dignified’ prime minister as leadership race intensifies
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May announced her resignation in an emotional speech on Friday, in which she said she would stand down as Conservative party leader on 7 June.
Ms May said she had “done my best” in a speech from Downing Street, before the Tory party announced a new prime minister would be in No.10 by 31 July.
Watched by husband Philip, Ms May’s voice cracked as she said it had been “the honour of my life” to serve as PM and she felt “enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love”.
In an apparent warning to the Conservative Party not to pursue a no-deal Brexit after she goes, Ms May said her successor will need to pursue compromise to find a way of delivering the result of the 2016 referendum and taking the UK out of the EU in a way that protects jobs, security and the Union.
But Tory leadership contenders are now ramping up their efforts to replace her, ahead of the official start of the contest.
Boris Johnson emerged as the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Ms May, as Jeremy Hunt and Sir Graham Brady announced they would stand.
Mr Johnson said the prime minister had been “patient and stoical” in her failed attempt to solve the Brexit crisis.
“The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed,” Mr Johnson said.
“We will leave the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal,” the former foreign secretary said, adding a second referendum on EU membership would be a “very bad idea”.
Conservative MPs also paid tribute to the dignified manner in which Theresa May announced her departure.
“Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task,” said Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
“But one she met every day with courage and resolve...a true public servant.”
Additional reporting by agencies
If you would like to see how the day’s news from Westminster unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
“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”.
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.
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.
Here’s the moment leading ERG member Mark Francois backed the pro-Brexit group’s deputy chair Steve Baker to become Tory leader and PM.
It’s a blow for Boris Johnson, who would have be hoping to receive support from the ERG and Brexiteers in the parliamentary Tory party.
It had been assumed Johnson would easily win over the pro-Brexit wing of the party after Jacob Rees-Mogg strongly suggested he would support the former foreign secretary in a leadership contest.
David Cameron has his say on Theresa May’s resignation, praising her “strong and brave speech”.
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