Will Theresa May stay on as an MP after resigning as prime minister?

Politics Explained: Some former prime ministers disappear from parliament immediately, but others hang on for decades

May stepped down as Tory leader on Friday and will serve as caretaker PM until her successor is chosen (AP)

After being removed from No 10 in 1974 by a Labour general election victory, and toppled as leader of the Conservative Party the following year, Edward Heath famously stuck around as a backbencher.

He eventually became father of the House of Commons – a title bestowed on the longest continuously-serving member – until resigning as an MP 27 years later, in 2001.

Other former prime ministers, such as David Cameron and Tony Blair, opted for a quicker exit from frontline politics.

The Labour leader quit his Sedgefield constituency seat on the day he resigned as prime minister. Mr Cameron, meanwhile, stepped aside as an MP shortly after his dramatic resignation as Tory leader and prime minister in July 2016, in the aftermath of the European Union referendum.

Three years on, and now it is Theresa May’s turn to consider her future in the House of Commons.

She is expected to leave Downing Street in July – once a new leader is elected – and the general consensus at Westminster is that she will remain on as an MP.

For a politician that made clear during the short Tory leadership race of 2016 that she did not gossip with journalists over lunch, or go drinking in parliament’s bars, it seems unlikely Ms May will sign a tell-it-all lucrative book deal on her time in No 10.

Moments before outlining her intention to quit outside Downing Street last month, Ms May held a telephone discussion with the chair of her local association in Maidenhead – a constituency she has represented since 1997.

“The main concern for us as her association is that she’s not going to resign her seat,” Richard Kellaway told reporters on the day. “She will carry on as a member of parliament, which is welcomed by us.

“As the prime minister, she could go to the House of Lords if she wants to go that route and carry on, or she could stay a member of parliament. Quite clearly, it’s a very troubling and difficult time for her and she’ll need to settle down and see what she wants to do.”

Ms May clearly values her constituency role – and continues to play it actively. She has also been a member of the Conservative Party her entire adult life, first standing as an MP in 1992, with a further unsuccessful attempt before winning in Maidenhead in 1997. It feels unlikely she is about to give up life in the Commons.

But at the same time, she may decide, as Mr Cameron did, that her presence on the backbenches may prove too much a distraction for her successor.