Theresa May is resigning as prime minister of the United Kingdom after her latest attempt at a deal for Britain to leave the European Union failed.
“It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” May said Friday in front of 10 Downing Street. She urged her successor to do so. “To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not. Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise.”
The Conservative Party will hold a vote to determine May’s replacement, who will automatically become prime minister, as the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons. May said she will step down as party leader June 7.
May’s final plan, presented Tuesday, would have given Britons a chance to vote on any Brexit deal passed by Parliament. Anti-Brexit politicians had been calling for a second referendum almost from the moment the country voted June 23, 2016, to leave the European Union, with 51.9% in favor.
Andrea Leadsom, leader of the Commons, resigned Wednesday, refusing to present the bill to Parliament.
May bête noire Boris Johnson has already indicated he would like to lead the party and the country. The member of Parliament and former editor of the Spectator magazine, who was born in New York City but renounced his American citizenship in 2016, tweeted Friday after what he called May’s “dignified statement”: “Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit.”
A very dignified statement from @theresa_may. Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 24, 2019
May won the party leadership and replaced David Cameron as prime minister on July 13, 2016. Cameron, who had promised a Brexit referendum campaigning in the 2015 election that gave him a solid majority in Parliament, supported remaining in the European Union and announced he would resign immediately after Britons voted to leave.
“Back in 2016, we gave the British people a choice. Against all predictions, the British people voted to leave the European Union,” May said in her resignation speech. “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.”
