Britain Will Have A New Prime Minister By Summer - Theresa May

Theresa May will today clear the way for Britain to have a new prime minister by the summer.

Allies said that – barring a last-minute change of heart – she will announce plans this morning to step aside as Conservative Party leader next month.

Mrs May will begin the day with a meeting with the Tories' backbench shop steward Sir Graham Brady to discuss the exact timetable for her departure. 

She is then expected to address the nation from Downing Street to explain why she is leaving 'the job I love' before she has realised her ambition of leading Britain out of the European Union.


Mrs May is expected to try to delay the start of the Tory leadership race until the week beginning June 10, to allow her to host Donald Trump's state visit without the indignity of her MPs voting on her successor at the same time.


But she will stay on as Prime Minister while the Tory leadership contest takes place, allowing a smooth transition to a new leader before the summer recess.

Allies said she was due to discuss the final details of her departure with her husband Philip last night, before publicly making her intentions clear today.

This morning's dramatic move, which plunges the future of Brexit into further doubt, comes as:

Mrs May's decision to announce her plans to step aside came after senior Cabinet ministers warned her they were on the brink of withdrawing their support over her decision to open the door to a second Brexit referendum in a last-ditch bid to get her deal approved by MPs.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Mrs May to abandon plans to put her Withdrawal Agreement Bill to a vote by MPs next month.


Mr Hunt, one of more than a dozen Tory MPs hoping to succeed her, said it was not fair to ask loyal MPs to vote for a toxic compromise that had no chance of succeeding. Home Secretary Sajid Javid, another potential leadership candidate, warned her he could not back the legislation unless she dropped the option of a second referendum.

One of Mrs May's closest Cabinet allies said he expected her to name a date for her departure today, but added: 'No-one knows her mind for certain. She will talk to Philip (her husband) tonight before making a final decision.

'It's a very personal decision – in many ways, it's a very lonely decision.

'But I think she will be taking a message to Sir Graham that she is ready to go.'


The Mail revealed yesterday that Mrs May had accepted her time was up and was ready to announce plans for a 'dignified' departure.