Negotiator behind May deal to quit Brexit role

Chief negotiator Olly Robbins will quit his Brexit role this summer.

The man who masterminded Theresa May’s Brexit deal is understood to be stepping down shortly after the new prime minister takes up his post at the end of July.

As the campaign to replace her continues, Mrs May will head to Brussels for a European Council summit where EU heads of state will continue discussions on who should be nominated for the EU’S top jobs.

Mrs May will step down following her final PMQS on Wednesday 24 July and Mr Robbins is expected to follow shortly afterwards, with reports he may take up a job in the City.

Mr Robbins’s departure is the latest in a wave of top civil servants dealing with Brexit who have announced they will resign rather than take on the challenge of delivering Brexit within 100 days under the new leader.

Tom Shinner, director of policy and delivery coordination at the Department for Exiting the EU, and Karen Wheeler, director general of HMRC Brexit border delivery group, have announced they will quit.