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News > United Kingdom

UK Prime Minister Theresa May to Resign June 7

  • UK Prime Minister Theresa May to Resign June 7
Published 24 May 2019
Opinion

"I have done my best" to deliver Brexit, May explained. "I have tried three times" unsuccessfully.

United Kingdom head of government Theresa May has announced that she will quit as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7 and subsequently step down as prime minister (PM), according to a CNN report. 

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European Union Keeps Backing PM May Despite New Brexit Delay

"... I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday 7 June so that a successor can be chosen. I have agreed with the Party Chairman and with the Chairman of the 1922 Committee that the process for electing a new leader should begin in the following week.", May said as she broke into tears at the end of her statement.

May, said her aim throughout her tenure as prime minister was to make the U.K. a country that works for the many, not the few, and also to deliver Brexit.

The British PM was unable on separate occasions to broker a Brexit deal.

Confederation of British Industry Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn noted that May's exit should be viewed as an opportunity for the country to reassess its circumstances.

“Business and the country need honesty. [The] nation must be put ahead of party, prosperity ahead of politics. Compromise and consensus must refind their voice in Parliament. We call on politicians from all parties, on all those ambitious to lead, to take this chance for a fresh start.”

Early last month, the European Union’s Special Council granted the United Kingdom a “flexible” extension to part ways from the bloc, until October 31, after French President Emmanuel Macron opposed efforts to give the country an entire year.

Economists warned of the financial effects of a no-deal.

"It is difficult not to feel for Mrs. May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU. Either the party learns that lesson or it dies,"  leader of the Brexit party Nigel Farage noted.

May meanwhile added, "I have kept Her Majesty the Queen fully informed of my intentions, and I will continue to serve as her Prime Minister until the process has concluded."

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed May's upcoming exit and said it was long overdue.

"The burning injustices she (May) 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. The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected Prime Minister."

The U.K. parliament had previously approved a law that would give British members the power to scrutinize and make legally binding changes to May’s request for the European Union to delay Brexit until June 30.

Green Party co-leader, Caroline Lucas said May was "almost uniquely ill-equipped to be negotiator we needed" and further explained that the PM was unlikely to "achieve a hard Brexit & avoid hard border in N. Ireland" and no other leader will either.

"I have done my best" to deliver Brexit, May stated in conclusion. "I have tried three times" unsuccessfully.

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