May quits with Brexit in balance
EMOTIONAL BRITISH PM SAYS SHE WILL RESIGN AS TORIES LEADER ON JUNE 7
British Prime Minister Theresa May announced yesterday that she will resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7, but stay as caretaker prime minister until a new leader is chosen. In an emotional statement outside 10 Downing Street, she had a message to whoever succeeds her: You will have to compromise. It’s a lesson she learned after seeing her version of Brexit shot down three times in a deeply divided Parliament. Hours later, Boris Johnson, a top contender for her job, made his Brexit pitch. “The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no-deal situation,” the former foreign secretary told a forum in Switzerland
Fighting back tears, Theresa May said yesterday she would quit after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union.
May’s departure deepens the Brexit crisis as a new leader, who should be in place by the end of July, is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the EU and potentially a snap parliamentary election.
Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favourite to replace May, was first out of the blocks, saying Britain should be prepared to leave the EU without a deal to force the bloc to offer a “good deal”.
Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt also confirmed he would run for the leadership just hours after May, her voice cracking with emotion, said she would resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7. “I will shortly leave the job that has been the honour of my life to hold,” May said outside her Downing Street official residence with her husband, Philip, looking on.
“It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” May said, adding that her successor would have to find a consensus to honour the 2016 referendum result.
Politicians in her party and abroad paid tribute to her determination. French President Emmanuel Macron praised May’s “courageous work” and US President Donald Trump said he felt bad for her. “I like her very much, she is a good woman, she worked very hard,” he said.
Johnson, the face of the official Brexit campaign in 2016, is the favourite to succeed May, with betting markets giving him a 40 per cent implied probability of winning the top job..
He made his pitch at an economic conference in Switzerland, appealing to Brexit-supporting Conservative Party members by saying: “We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal.” He said Britain could forge a “fantastic free trade relationship” with Europe after it quits the bloc but could also be a champion for global free trade.
For many Conservative lawmakers, speed is of the essence to install a new leader to try to break the Brexit impasse.
The governing party said it
would move quickly to try to end the leadership contest before parliament breaks for a summer holiday, a so-called recess which usually falls in late July.
“The fight for the heart and soul of the Conservative Party officially starts now,” said Andrew Bridgen, a pro-Brexit lawmaker. “We need a new PM as soon as possible and who that is will decide the future of our democracy, our country and the Conservative Party.” Sterling swung back and forth on May’s resignation, and British government bond yields edged off near-two-year lows struck first thing yesterday.