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Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit May vows to resign before next phase of Brexit if deal is passed
(about 3 hours 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. Theresa May has played her final desperate card to tame Brexit rebels in her warring party, by promising to sacrifice her premiership if they back her twice-rejected 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 beleaguered prime minister, whose authority has been shattered by the double defeat of her deal and a stream of resignations, made the high-stakes offer to Tory backbenchers at a packed meeting in Westminster.
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. “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,” she told the backbench 1922 Committee.
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 am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party,” she said.
May’s frantic pledge came on another dramatic day in Westminster, as:
• Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith led a stream of Eurosceptics to support the deal.
• MPs rejected every one of the eight alternatives to May’s deal debated in a day-long process of “indicative votes”.
• Labour’s divisions on Brexit were exposed, as three shadow ministers defied the whip to resist backing a second referendum.
• The DUP threw May’s chances of getting her deal through parliament into doubt by saying its MPs would not support it.
The prime minister had hoped to remain in 10 Downing Street after exit day, and build a legacy that extended beyond the humiliations of the Brexit talks, to domestic policy.
But if the withdrawal agreement is passed and Britain leaves the EU in eight weeks’ time, she could now be gone before the summer – after less than two years in the top job.
Ministers now hope to make a third attempt to ram May’s deal through the House of Commons on Friday – though their prospects of success were thrown into doubt after the DUP said its 10 MPs would vote against.
May had been under intense pressure to set out a timetable for her departure, as the leave-supporting wing of her party continued to resist supporting her deal – which was defeated by a majority of 149 earlier this month.
Outside the 1922 meeting, the 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.”
The response from MPs was “respectful recognition for her hard work and service, not celebration”, he said.
Several of the most determined Brexit holdouts, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Iain Duncan Smith and Boris Johnson, were invited to the prime minister’s country retreat of Chequers on Sunday.
They denied that any pact about her departure had been made; but just minutes after May’s emotional promise, Johnson told colleagues at the European Research Group (ERG) that he would now support the deal, saying the next phase of talks would have to have a “change of tone and mandate”.
Rees-Mogg had already suggested he could vote for it, fearing that the takeover of parliament in which backbenchers spent Wednesday debating proposals for softening or reversing Brexit meant May’s deal was now the only way of ensuring Britain left the EU.
Rees-Mogg said that if the deal did not pass, “she would have every right to carry on”.
Three ministers resigned on Monday to back an amendment tabled by a cross-bench group of MPs led by the Tory former minister Oliver Letwin, that cleared the parliamentary timetable on Wednesday – and next Monday – to test the backing for alternatives to the prime minister’s deal.
Letwin said it was “a great matter of disappointment” that no majority had emerged for any of the eight options debated. He said another set of votes would be held on Monday – but he hoped May’s deal would be accepted before then.
Although all eight were voted down, both a confirmatory referendum and a customs union won more votes than the 242 the prime minister’s deal received at the second meaningful vote earlier this month.
The government had tried and failed to prevent the indicative votes process taking place at all, by whipping MPs to reject the business motion kicking off the debate.
EU27 leaders granted Britain a delay to Brexit to 22 May in Brussels last week – but only if May’s deal wins the support of parliament this week. Downing Street suggested that a leadership contest could kick off soon afterwards, but only if her deal was passed.
If it is not supported this week, the prime minister must return to Brussels before 12 April to set out what she plans to do next – and potentially request a longer extension.
Ministers signalled that they would now hold an extra parliamentary session on Friday, in the hope of winning a third “meaningful vote” – if they can persuade enough Tory rebels to switch sides.
The Speaker, John Bercow, stressed on Wednesday that he would not allow the government to table the same deal for a third meaningful vote.
But ministers were considering plans to hold the first reading of the withdrawal agreement bill – giving MPs a vote on the flagship bill implementing the deal, rather than a similar motion.
May had already reassured colleagues that she would not fight the 2022 general election – the next date on which a contest is due – as she fought to overturn a vote of no confidence in her leadership last December.
And she had been widely expected to face a fresh challenge once the year-long breathing space she secured by winning that vote had expired.
Several cabinet ministers and a clutch of backbenchers have been making thinly disguised pitches for the premiership in recent months, with collective responsibility all but breaking down as rival contenders ensure their views become known.
The frontrunners will be Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove, but there is likely to be a wide range of candidates.
'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. The chief secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss, said: “The prime minister gave a dignified and honest speech at the 1922. She cares deeply about our country and is a patriot. People must now support the deal and move us forward.”
“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. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, responded to her promised departure 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.
“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.”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.
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?
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.
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.”
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.
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.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.
Who will be in the running to replace Theresa May?
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