This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
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
The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit | Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister within the next few months in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her Brexit deal. | |
| The prime minister indicated she would resign only if her Brexit deal passes in order to allow a new leader to shape the UK’s future relationship with the EU. | |
| The dramatic announcement to a meeting of Tory backbenchers prompted dozens of Eurosceptics including Boris Johnson to switch sides in favour of backing her deal. Conservative sources said she could formally announce a leadership contest on 22 May, with a new prime minister in place by July. | |
| The frontrunners will be Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove, but there is likely to be a wide range of candidates bidding to enter No 10. | |
| '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 |
| May told MPs: “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. | |
| “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.” |
| May did not set a specific date for her departure. However, Conservative MPs said they left the room with the impression that if her deal passes this week, the process of selecting the next Tory leader could kick off as soon as 22 May – the day Britain would then be due to leave the EU, under the extension agreed with the European council in Brussels last week. | |
| Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, responded by calling for a general election. “Theresa May’s pledge to Tory MPs to stand down if they vote for her deal shows once and for all that her chaotic Brexit negotiations have been about party management, not principles or the public interest. A change of government can’t be a Tory stitch-up – the people must decide,” he said. | |
| The prime minister’s announcement is seen as key to getting dozens of hard Brexiter MPs, including Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, to back her deal. Johnson told a meeting of the European Research Group that he would now back the withdrawal agreement, saying the next phase of talks would have to have a “change of tone and mandate”. | |
| Rees-Mogg, the chair of the hardline European Research Group, who privately supports Johnson for the leadership, said: “I think it was very clear. She basically said that when the withdrawal agreement was approved – and I assume that was by the 22 May deadline.” | |
| But if the deal did not pass, he said, “she would have every right to carry on”. | |
| Rees-Mogg, who has been hosting dinners at his Westminster house for backbenchers on behalf of Johnson, declined to say whom he would back in the leadership contest, saying: “The great joy of the Tory party is that it has so many talented people in it. It’s like finding a fast bowler in Yorkshire.” | |
| A Conservative leadership contest has two stages. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. |
| However, May’s deal 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. The DUP was meant to give a statement on their position straight after May’s speech, but this was pulled at the last minute. | |
| A clear majority of Eurosceptics are now expected to get on board, but some Conservative MPs, such as Steve Baker, Bill Cash and Andrea Jenkyns, have so far been vocal about their intention never to back the deal. There are also seven Conservative MPs in favour of a second referendum who intend to vote against the deal again. | |
| Who will be in the running to replace Theresa May? | Who will be in the running to replace Theresa May? |
| One Conservative MP, Pauline Latham, said there was a “sense of relief” in the room and that she would now back the deal. Another holdout, Simon Clarke, would not say he was definitely backing the deal, saying many of his colleagues were “waiting for the DUP”. | |
| 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 Tory MP, 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. |
| MPs will narrow what is expected to be a wide field of candidates for leader down to a pair of contenders, and party members will make the final choice. | |
| Theresa May | Theresa May |
| Brexit | Brexit |
| Conservatives | Conservatives |
| Conservative leadership | Conservative leadership |
| European Union | European Union |
| Foreign policy | Foreign policy |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |