The embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she would quit on 7 June, triggering a leadership contest in the country.
Fighting back tears during an speech in Downing Street, May said she had done het best to honor the 2016 EU referendum result, adding that It would remain a matter of « deep regret » that she had been unable to deliver Brexit.
May’s departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and a potentially unpredictable snap parliamentary election.
« I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold, » May said. « The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. »
« I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love, » May said, with her husband, Philip, looking on.
May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership, who won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 Brexit vote, steps down with her central pledges – to lead the United Kingdom out of the bloc and heal its divisions – unfulfilled.
« 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 honor the 2016 referendum result.
Jeremy Corbyn: May is right to resign
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said May was right to call it a day.
« She’s now accepted what the country’s known for months: she can’t govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party, » he adds, calling for her replacement to order a snap election.
In a longer post on Facebook, he added:
« The burning injustices she promised to tackle three years ago are even starker today.
The Conservative Party has utterly failed the country over Brexit and is unable to improve the lives of people in our country or deal with their most pressing needs.
Parliament is deadlocked and the Conservatives offer no solutions to the other major challenges facing our country.
The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected Prime Minister. »