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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/27/theresa-may-to-resign-before-next-phase-of-brexit
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| Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit | Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit |
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| Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister before the next phase of Brexit negotiations in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her withdrawal deal. | Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister before the next phase of Brexit negotiations in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her withdrawal deal. |
| The prime minister said she would make way for another Conservative leader, after listening to the demands of MPs for a new leadership team. | The prime minister said she would make way for another Conservative leader, after listening to the demands of MPs for a new leadership team. |
| 'I hear what you're saying' - How May told Tory MPs she will quit before next phase of Brexit: live news | 'I hear what you're saying' - How May told Tory MPs she will quit before next phase of Brexit: live news |
| “I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations and I won’t stand in the way of that,” May said, according to a transcript released afterwards. | “I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations and I won’t stand in the way of that,” May said, according to a transcript released afterwards. |
| “I know some people are worried that if you vote for the withdrawal agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two without the debate we need to have. I won’t; I hear what you are saying. But we need to get the deal through and deliver Brexit. | “I know some people are worried that if you vote for the withdrawal agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two without the debate we need to have. I won’t; I hear what you are saying. But we need to get the deal through and deliver Brexit. |
| “I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.” | “I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.” |
| She did not set a specific date for her departure as she spoke to a 1922 Committee meeting of Conservative backbenchers. But she is likely to be out of Downing Street before the autumn. | She did not set a specific date for her departure as she spoke to a 1922 Committee meeting of Conservative backbenchers. But she is likely to be out of Downing Street before the autumn. |
| The prime minister’s announcement is seen as key to getting dozens of hard Brexiter MPs, including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, to back her Brexit deal. | The prime minister’s announcement is seen as key to getting dozens of hard Brexiter MPs, including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, to back her Brexit deal. |
| One MP leaving the meeting said it fired the starting gun on a Tory leadership contest that would be likely to take place over the summer, with a new leader potentially in place for the Conservative conference in the autumn. | One MP leaving the meeting said it fired the starting gun on a Tory leadership contest that would be likely to take place over the summer, with a new leader potentially in place for the Conservative conference in the autumn. |
| A Conservative leadership contest has two stages. | |
| In the first part, MPs vote for their choice of leader from all of the candidates who have been nominated. In each round of voting, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated from the contest. MPs then vote again, until there are only two challengers remaining. This usually takes place over several days. | |
| At that point the second stage is a postal ballot of Conservative party members to chose which of the two candidates they wish to lead the party. | |
| In 2016 the party members did not get to vote. At the point that the contest had been narrowed down to a choice between Andrea Leadsom or Theresa May, Leadsom stood aside. This left Theresa May to become leader and prime minister unopposed. | |
| Under the existing rules, since she won a vote of no confidence in December 2018, Theresa May's leadership cannot be directly challenged. However, she would trigger a leadership contest by resigning, as she has now promised to do. | |
| A Tory minister said May had been “honest about the feedback she had received” from MPs, many of whom made her resignation a precondition of backing her deal. | A Tory minister said May had been “honest about the feedback she had received” from MPs, many of whom made her resignation a precondition of backing her deal. |
| It is still not certain to pass as it will need the backing of the Democratic Unionist party and almost all Conservative Eurosceptics unless more Labour MPs come on board or abstain. | It is still not certain to pass as it will need the backing of the Democratic Unionist party and almost all Conservative Eurosceptics unless more Labour MPs come on board or abstain. |
| Who will be in the running to replace Theresa May? | |
| The Brexit secretary, Steve Barclay, had earlier announced that the government planned to ask the House of Commons to sit on Friday, in the hope of bringing the twice-rejected deal back for another “meaningful vote”. | The Brexit secretary, Steve Barclay, had earlier announced that the government planned to ask the House of Commons to sit on Friday, in the hope of bringing the twice-rejected deal back for another “meaningful vote”. |
| Ministers will first have to find a way of overcoming John Bercow’s insistence that, as Speaker, he will not allow May simply to table the same deal again, a stricture he reiterated on Wednesday as MPs prepared to vote on alternative Brexit options. | Ministers will first have to find a way of overcoming John Bercow’s insistence that, as Speaker, he will not allow May simply to table the same deal again, a stricture he reiterated on Wednesday as MPs prepared to vote on alternative Brexit options. |
| One Conservative MP, Pauline Latham, said the prime minister did not give a clear timetable for her departure but gave the clear impression she would be going. She said there was a “sense of relief” in the room and she would now back the deal. | One Conservative MP, Pauline Latham, said the prime minister did not give a clear timetable for her departure but gave the clear impression she would be going. She said there was a “sense of relief” in the room and she would now back the deal. |
| Another, Simon Hart, who leads the Brexit Delivery Group, said: “She made it very clear: I want the next prime minister to be one of the colleagues in there tonight, not down the corridor at the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] meeting.” | Another, Simon Hart, who leads the Brexit Delivery Group, said: “She made it very clear: I want the next prime minister to be one of the colleagues in there tonight, not down the corridor at the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] meeting.” |
| He quoted her as telling MPs: “I will get it over the line, and I will put the procedures in place.” | He quoted her as telling MPs: “I will get it over the line, and I will put the procedures in place.” |
| Hart said May told the meeting she recognised there was pressure for her to go. “She said: ‘I know I don’t go around the bars and the dining rooms gossiping with colleagues, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t heard the message.’” | Hart said May told the meeting she recognised there was pressure for her to go. “She said: ‘I know I don’t go around the bars and the dining rooms gossiping with colleagues, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t heard the message.’” |
| The response from MPs was “respectful recognition for her hard work and service, not celebration”, he added. | The response from MPs was “respectful recognition for her hard work and service, not celebration”, he added. |
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